Time To Face Gravity
by Fifilla
Summary: A long forgotten foe resurfaces to take revenge on the Five-0 team – with Chin and Kono away on vacation will Steve and Danny be able to protect their loved ones? Will they learn in time about what's really going on? – Sequel to "Gravity"
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:  
**1) Even if this story is a sequel to my story "Gravity", I don't think you necessarily have to read "Gravity" first to understand what's going on.

2) This story is dedicated to all the people who read "Gravity" and encouraged me to write a sequel – you guys are awesome.

3) We don't know yet about Kono's and Malia's fate – I do hope that both women will survive that evil cliffhanger at the end of season 2. But if not, well, I think then we have to consider my story as slightly AU.

4) Fair warning: I love whump and I really love cliffhangers… just saying ;-) Better be prepared!

5) English is not my native language, so please forgive me my mistakes.

**Disclaimer:  
**Unfortunately I don't own anything of Hawaii Five-0, it all belongs to CBS. But I wouldn't mind at all sharing my couch with the Five-0 team – feel free to come around whenever you like.

**Thanks:  
montez **and** sherry57**, thank you so much for betaing, for all the time and effort you put into my story! MAHALO, you are both really and truly the best and I'm honored that you do all that work for me! :-) Don't know what I'd do without you!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett knew one thing for sure – he hated going shopping.

His face rigid, his chin pushed forward, Steve left the supermarket, two heavy bags of groceries, cosmetics and cleaning products firmly pressed against his chest. He stomped across the parking lot, cursing silently when he felt one of the bags starting to slip from his hands. Briefly stopping, Steve made an awkward movement with his right arm to balance his load before he resumed his pace, faster than before, making a beeline for his car at the other end of the huge parking lot.

Yes, Steve definitely hated going shopping and for that reason he tried to avoid the big supermarkets as much as possible. It was not helping that it was Friday afternoon and the sheer amount of people and cars were making Steve's mood even worse.

There was this nice little mom-and-pop store only two streets from his home where he regularly bought his daily ration of fresh fruits and vegetables, the tiny shop belonged to Auntie Amana, the old lady had owned the place as long as Steve could remember. He still remembered vividly the very first time his mother had taken him there, over thirty years ago, how amazed he was about all the different kind of colorful fruits. Even then Auntie Amana had been old – at least from the perspective of a sassy three-year-old. So it was to his immense surprise, Steve had found not only the shop still intact when he'd returned to the Islands after the death of his father, but that Auntie Amana was still alive. She looked exactly the same as he'd remembered her from his childhood days, her face weathered and wrinkled but here eyes still sparkling with glee and her tongue and wit sharp as ever.

Steve didn't mind going to Auntie Amana's little store but he had to admit that going there was not so much about shopping but rather spending some quality time with the old lady, listening to her stories and wallowing in long lost childhood memories. But the range of products in the old shop was limited and even an Ex-SEAL needed cosmetics and cleaning products from time to time, and that's why today his path led him to one of the big supermarkets that he hated so much. McGarrett knew somewhere deep inside that it would probably be much easier to come here more regularly, buying smaller amounts of all the stuff he needed to keep his house – and himself – nice and clean, but he stubbornly refused to give in to that logic, avoiding the dreaded place as long as possible.

Gritting his teeth, Steve tensed the muscles in his arms to prevent the large bags from slipping further down, the sharp edge of whatever it was he had bought uncomfortably jabbing into his ribs. He breathed out a relieved sigh when he finally reached the end of the parking lot, his big blue truck waiting at the very end of a long row of cars.

He had only a few more steps to cross when he suddenly felt something painfully slam into his back. Stumbling forward, Steve couldn't help the surprised groan of pain that left his throat as he desperately tried to regain his foothold, but the weight of the two heavy bags in his arms was too much, the momentum of the blow sending him to the ground.

McGarrett tried to release his grip on the bags but it was already too late, he hadn't the slightest chance of breaking his fall, only a heartbeat later his forearms painfully made contact with the rough asphalt, the shopping bags bursting, spilling their contents all over the place and under the parked cars.

Pushing aside the dull throb in his back and the burning sensation spreading along his arms, Steve struggled to his feet, wildly looking around as he tried to identify the source of his fall, when he felt something tugging at his belt.

"Thanks for that, dude!"

"What the hell…" McGarrett stammered, staring incredulously at the small hand waving a gold and blue item directly in front of his face. His eyes travelled from the hand to the smirking face of a teenager but before Steve could even think of raising his own hand to grab for his stolen badge, the Hawaiian boy ducked, swiftly turned around on his lime-green rollerblades that perfectly matched the color of his helmet and took to his heels.

Finally shaking off his rigor, Steve jumped over his scattered shopping, ignoring the surprised and appalled cries around him as he chased after the young thief. Limping the first few steps until he adjusted to the pain in his back where the boy had tackled him, McGarrett raced to the end of the parking lot, turning to the left where he'd just spotted a glimpse of green, disappearing around the next corner. He sped up, carefully dodging the few pedestrians who were strolling on the sidewalk but when he reached the street corner not even half a minute later the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Looking around for any sign of the lime-green helmet, Steve stopped in his pursuit, catching his breath as he unconsciously rubbed the sore spot on his back. After another unsuccessful minute of searching the area he finally admitted defeat, disappointed and angry he jogged back to the parking lot, astonished at the group of people that had gathered around his car. He was greeted by a cacophony of voices as he drew near, everyone was shouting and talking at him, but all he could make out where the words 'robbery', 'police' and 'ambulance'.

Steve ineffectively tried to calm down the crowd but he wasn't able to raise his voice over the noise, so he finally put his fingers to his mouth and blew out a long shrill whistle. Almost immediately the uproar died down, a weird silence filled the air when all eyes were aimed at McGarrett.

"Thank you." Slightly spreading his arms, Steve nodded once, gazing at the people around him. "Was anyone else attacked?" he asked, his voice calm and businesslike.

A young man stepped forward, his red and white striped shirt identified him as an employee of the supermarket. "No, sir, you were the only one," he said, nervously knotting his fingers as he looked at McGarrett. "We just were about to call the police when you returned…" his voice trailed off as soon as he saw Steve's defensive gesture.

"That won't be necessary, I am police," Steve replied, smiling slightly as he introduced himself. "Commander McGarrett, Five-0."

"Oh… okay," the other man stammered, clearly unaccustomed to talking in front of such a large group of people and intimidated by Steve's authoritarian demeanor. "We… uhm… we're also wondering if you need medical attendance."

Steve raised his eyebrows, astonished at the question, as he stared at the young man. "Why do you think I would need medical attendance?" he asked in a friendly tone, his curiosity piqued.

When he peered around he was rewarded with blank and worried looks on all the faces. Steve furrowed his brow in confusion and very slowly he finally became aware of the burning sensation that pulsed through his forearms. He raised his right arm to take a closer look, hissing in pain as he cautiously touched the bloody wounds that covered all the skin from his wrist to the elbow, dirt and grit deeply embedded into the scrapes.

"I'll call an ambulance," Steve heard one of the women around him calling out terrified.

Looking up, McGarrett resolutely shook his head, "No, it's okay, I'm fine. I don't need an ambulance." Silencing the emerging murmur of voices with a sharp gesture, he put on his commanding tone, as Danny liked to call it, nipping any upcoming resistance in the bud as he said, "Really, I'm fine, and I'd like to thank you all for your help." Picking up the two bags with his shopping items, Steve threw another glance at the group of people who surrounded him, nodding a thank-you to whomever helped gathering and repacking his belongings. "Thank you," he repeated politely as he opened the door of his truck, stowing the bags away.

Waiting a few more moments until the crowd around him began to disperse, Steve finally climbed into his car, breathing out a long sigh as he started the engine, eager to leave the dreaded supermarket, heading home to nurse his wounds that actually hurt more than he cared to admit.

Steve shook his head in frustration, the events of the day definitely didn't help to make shopping more enjoyable.

* * *

Paul Baines, former owner of Imperial Cosmetics Inc. and once a well-respected personality on the island of Oahu, snuggled deeper into the driver's seat of his unremarkable silver compact car, adjusting his sunglasses as he watched the busy comings and goings in the parking lot. Reaching for the radio controls, he switched on his favorite station, listening to the powerful sound of his beloved opera music as he patiently waited for his prey to show up.

He didn't mind waiting, and he considered patience one of his strongest suits. Baines had waited his whole life, he had learned early that only patience would finally bring the desired results. He cocked his head a little to the right, pursing his lips as he thought about that statement. Well, patience was not all – a well placed murder now and then never caused any harm, and Baines had never been shy about getting rid of the people who'd tried to upset his mighty plans.

Baines' gaze slowly travelled to the other end of the parking lot, where the man he waited for finally showed up. A malicious smile crept across Baines' features as he watched him struggling with the two heavy shopping bags that he pressed against his chest. Closely eyeballing his foe, watching the grim determination on the younger man's face, Baines wondered if Commander McGarrett knew about the intimidating impression he had on other people.

When McGarrett had almost reached his car, Baines slipped off his sunglasses, punching the radio button to silence the music as he straightened up in his seat. He leaned forward slightly to have a better look at the scene, waiting patiently for his plan to unfold.

Ever since Baines had been forced to get rid of those two employees of his, who had been stupid enough to tell the police about his ongoing experiments with synthetic drugs almost a year ago, he had worked on his revenge. Patiently hiding on one of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, he planned his revenge not only for the demise of his drug experiments but also for the death of his beloved foster mother.

A flash of lime-green raced over the parking lot and Baines watched in fascination as the boy he'd hired two days ago slammed at full speed into McGarrett's back, tackling the man to the ground and sending the shopping items all over the place. Almost clapping his hands in delight, Baines waited patiently until the boy had snatched McGarrett's badge, causing the Commander to race after him, before he exited his car. With two empty shopping bags in his hands he slowly strolled over toward McGarrett's car, kneeling down as he helped the two women who were busy gathering the scattered items. Presenting the empty bags, he motioned to the women and only a few moments later all of McGarrett's belongings were safely stowed away.

Baines was long back in his car when McGarrett finally returned to the parking lot; he wasn't able to hide his taunting smile, secretly replacing one of the items in the bag had almost been too easy. Rubbing his hands with glee, Paul Baines switched on the radio, happily singing along with Mozart's Papageno.

Step one of his plan had been more than successful.

**(tbc)**


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts, I'm so glad you liked the first chapter :-)

Special bonus points for the first one who correctly guesses which item in Steve's bag Baines switched ;-)

To the unknown UK reviewer:  
Who knows what our SuperSEAL is doing in his spare time, perhaps he really is experimenting with blusher and lipstick ;-)**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

"Steve?"

Danny's voice echoed loudly through the empty living room as he opened the front door, stepping into McGarrett's house. Closing the door with a gentle kick, he dropped the two six-packs of beer onto the small coffee table, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he looked around, searching for his partner.

"Steve?" Danny repeated, frowning slightly when he didn't receive an answer. He briefly peered into the kitchen, noticing the two large shopping bags on the kitchen table, before he strolled outside onto the lanai, hoping to find McGarrett in front of the grill, two large steaks ready to get wolfed down. Danny's stomach rumbled in anticipation of that thought, but when he walked through the door, he found the place deserted, the old grill cold and empty, stowed away in a corner.

The frown on Danny's face increased when he turned around, rushing back into the house. His hand involuntarily went to his side, he cursed silently when his fingers grabbed nothing but empty air, remembering that his weapon was safely locked away in the glove compartment of his car.

"Steve?" he tried once more, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally got an answer.

"Danny?" McGarrett's voice sounded muffled from upstairs. "I'm here."

Rolling his eyes, Williams headed for the stairs as he replied, "And where exactly is 'here', Steven?"

"Bathroom."

Furrowing his brow even more at that short answer, Danny took the last few steps, coming to a halt in front of the bathroom door which was slightly ajar, just enough for him to peek inside. He saw Steve sitting on the edge of the bathtub, obviously busy examining something on his right forearm.

Danny raised his hand to knock on the door, fully aware that his action would cause it to open completely. Without further hesitation he stepped into the room, grinning impishly at Steve as he asked, "May I come in?"

"Aren't you supposed to wait for an answer before you enter a room?" McGarrett sighed, quickly dropping his hands to his lap as he returned Danny's look.

"Oh, wow, I'm impressed that you obviously do know some rules of social interaction," Danny replied smirking. "I expected to be greeted with a nice, large steak but instead of handling the grill you're sitting here in your bathroom. May I ask what you're doing here? Wallowing in self-pity about your lousy appearance?" Gesturing toward the mirror, the smile disappeared from Danny's face when he noticed the blood-covered gauze in the sink.

"What happened?" Williams asked, his penetrating gaze travelled over Steve's body, searching for any visible injury.

"I… uhm… I might have had a little accident," Steve replied sheepishly, avoiding Danny's eyes, his hands still tightly wrapped in his lap.

"A little accident?" Danny repeated, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Let me see," he finally demanded, not willing to accept any protest on Steve's part.

Knowing that resistance would be futile, McGarrett hesitantly raised his hands, showing Danny the bloody scrapes on his forearms.

"Fffff, ouch," Danny said, hissing out a sympathetic sound as he immediately grabbed one of the fresh gauze pads, trying to clean the wounds on his partner's arms. "Would you like to tell me how this happened?"

Steve gritted his teeth when Danny touched an especially tender spot on his right forearm, curling his fingers into a fist. Tensing his muscles, he needed all of his willpower to not snatch his arm from Danny's grip.

"Sorry, babe," Danny apologized, feeling the minute tremors that ran through Steve's muscles, "but we need to make sure that all the dirt comes off." Briefly catching Steve's gaze before he resumed his work, Danny said, "Now tell me what happened, talking will distract you from the pain."

"You know that I'm not Gracie, right?" Steve chuckled. "I don't think that I need something to distract me from the pain."

After a moment of silence Steve noticed the smug look on Danny's face. "What?" he asked suspiciously.

"But it already worked, didn't it?" Williams asked, showing Steve a particular big piece of grit he had just removed from one of the grazes. "Did you feel that?"

Narrowing his eyes, Steve looked at the tiny stone between Danny's fingers, slightly shaking his head. "No," he admitted surprised.

"Good," Danny replied, patting Steve's cheek. "Now talk and let me work."

Five minutes later, Danny had cleaned the wounds on Steve's forearms as best he could while listening to the story his partner told him about the assault at the parking lot, the stolen badge and the unsuccessful pursuit of the teenage boy. The corners of his mouth twitched as he dropped the last gauze pad into the sink.

"What?" Steve asked once again, suppressing a sigh when he took in the expression on Danny's face.

"I know you're hurting and it's not supposed to be funny, but seriously, Steven? You were tackled by a kid on rollerblades?" Danny couldn't help the laughter that erupted from his chest. "What were you trying to do? Practicing for a role in Starlight Express?"

Rolling his eyes, McGarrett retorted with a little shake of his head, "Oh God, you're trying to be extremely funny today, aren't you?"

Danny threw him a self-confident grin as he hauled Steve to his feet. "I'm not trying, I know that I'm funny," he said, pushing the other man out of the room. "Let's steam off, Rusty."

"Steam off? Wow, what a play on words, I'm impressed," Steve said, turning around to smile at his partner, because he had to admit that Danny was right – the whole story was really rather comical.

"See? I knew it was hilarious," Danny exclaimed contentedly, nudging Steve toward the stairs. "Go on, I want to be back as soon as possible, I'm hungry."

Stopping once more, Steve furrowed his brow as he asked, "Be back? Where do you want to go?" Recognizing the look on Danny's face, Steve tried to fight off the inevitable. "Oh no, come on, Danny, I don't need to go to the hospital. I got a tetanus shot only a few months ago and…"

"Steve, please, just for once, don't argue," Williams interrupted, resting his right hand on Steve's arm. "You know as well as I do that a doctor has to look at these wounds. I wasn't able to remove all the dirt and I'm pretty sure that you don't want them to become inflamed. So, let's just go, okay? The sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back, and as I told you before, I'm really hungry and can't wait for you to fire up the grill."

McGarrett knew that Danny was right, holding his friend's gaze for a few more seconds, Steve finally blew out a deep breath, silently nodding in defeat as he headed for the stairs.

"Good little soldier," Williams said happily, patting the other man's back while he silently counted the seconds until Steve's inevitable answer.

"Sailor, Danny, not soldier," Steve replied automatically much to Danny's delight.

Grinning brightly, Danny walked down the stairs behind Steve, finding it extremely funny that he was able to spoof McGarrett every single time with just one tiny little word.

* * *

The trip to the hospital had taken much longer than expected, both a doctor and a nurse had worked for over two hours on Steve's forearms to get rid of the tiniest bits of dirt that were embedded in the wounds before they finally covered the scrapes with antibiotic cream and applied a dressing, releasing Steve with the strict order to keep the wounds as dry as possible over the next few days.

"You okay?" Williams asked, throwing a concerned look at his partner who for once sat in the passenger seat of Danny's silver Camaro, leaning his head against the headrest, his eyes closed, his face two shades paler than usual.

"You know, it hurt a lot less before we went to the hospital," McGarrett finally answered, cracking open one eye to peer at Danny. "But I think I might just survive."

"Well, you probably won't believe it but I'm happy to hear that," Danny replied, the last ounce of concern dissolving when he saw Steve smiling at him. "I know it's late, but I'm really hungry now and if you're up to it, I would love to finally get your grill fired up and hanging out with a beer or two."

Noticing the expression of pure longing on Danny's face, Steve couldn't resist paying him back, he swallowed down his smile, faked a huge yawn and said apologetically, giving his voice a slightly whiny tone, "You're right, it's really late, and I'm kind of tired. So if you don't mind, just drop me off at my place and we'll take a rain check on the barbecue and the beer, okay?"

"Oh," Danny said, disappointment clouding his features when he took in Steve's words, briefly glancing at his partner before returning his eyes to the road. "Okay, sure."

The look of sheer desperation on Danny's face was too much for Steve. "I was just kidding, Danno, I'm starving, too," he burst out laughing.

Narrowing his eyes, Danny scowled at Steve for a short moment before he joined in the laughter. "Don't ever do that again, Steven. Don't you know how dangerous it is to upset a hungry Jersey cop?" he asked good-humoredly.

"Don't you think it's finally time you stop referring to yourself as a Jersey cop?" McGarrett replied, seizing the good mood of the moment to address that somewhat delicate matter. "You've been living in Hawaii for almost three years now…" Steve grinned at Danny as he continued,"… and you already lost your tie. I think you're slowly adapting to Island life."

"You know what?" Williams replied, suddenly sharply turning left into a small side street, a movement that earned him an inquiring look from his partner. "I really might, because I'm actually feeling like having some Loco Moco right now."

The expression on Steve's face changed into a knowing look when they stopped in front of Rainbow Drive-In mere moments later, an approving smile on his lips.

"I'm too hungry to wait for the barbecue to be ready," Danny explained as he killed the engine, opening the driver's door at the same time. "Stay put, I'll be right back."

Danny exited the car, heading toward the entrance of the small diner, when he turned on his heels and came back, slightly leaning through the open window as he looked at Steve. "Oh, and mark my words, Aloha boy. Nothing and nobody will ever be able to beat Jersey out of me," he said in the brightest Jersey accent he could muster. Winking at his partner, he turned around once more and disappeared into the building.

Staring after him, Steve shook his head in amusement as he murmured into the night, "And I wouldn't have it any other way, Danno."

* * *

"Another one?" Danny asked, raising his empty beer bottle in Steve's direction, not bothering to wait for an answer as he swiftly stood up from his chair and headed for the kitchen.

They had finished their takeout and were now sitting on the beach behind McGarrett's house, enjoying the gentle breeze and a few beers. With the weekend just around the corner and no new cases for Five-0, the two partners were relaxed and lazy, talking about everything and anything or just sitting together in comfortable silence.

"Have you heard from Grace?" Steve asked when Williams returned with two cold bottles, nodding a thank-you as he took the offered beverage.

Dropping heavily in his chair next to Steve, Danny breathed out a deep sigh. "No," he answered, taking a long sip from his beer. "I'm not able to talk to her because the holiday camp rules don't allow cell phones. The kids should learn to enjoy nature without all that modern technology crap… or something like that."

"I'm sorry, man," Steve answered, aware of the fact that it must be difficult for Danny to be cut off from his daughter, even if it was merely for two weeks, but when he turned his head to face his partner, Steve noticed the smug smile that crept across Danny's face. Furrowing his brow he needed a moment until he knew the reason for Danny's happiness and he also began to smile.

"But Kono is giving me regular updates, so I know Grace is safe and sound and still enjoying her holiday," Danny confirmed Steve's assumption.

"I think Kono was almost as excited as Grace, neither of them could wait for the holiday to come," Steve chuckled, remembering how antsy the young woman had been the last few days, she had talked about nothing else than her assignment as a surf instructor for the camp kids.

"It was really a nice move from the Governor to grant her vacation, now that Chin is also away," Danny said, referring to the fact that Chin and Malia were spending their long delayed honeymoon skiing somewhere in Canada.

Steve nodded, playing idly with the beer bottle in his hands. "We have no cases at the moment and even if something big does come up during the next two weeks… Molokai is just about 50 miles away, Kono would be able to join us within one or two hours, if we need her help."

The two friends sat in silence for a few moments until Danny finally began to snicker. "I can't forget the look on Gracie's face when Rachel told her about the trip to England," he explained, noticing Steve's inquiring gaze. "Can you believe that Rachel actually gave her the choice of where she wanted to spend her holiday? I mean, it was either the holiday camp on Molokai or the funeral of some unknown great-uncle in England – not a very difficult decision for an eleven-year-old, if you ask me."

"Judging from your expression I take it that Rachel was not amused that Grace preferred staying in Hawaii?" Steve asked, taking the last sip from his beer before he dropped the empty bottle into the sand.

"You could say that," Danny answered, also finishing his drink, lazily leaning back in his chair. Little did he know that a few days from now he would have been more than happy if his daughter had chosen England over Molokai.

* * *

The old restaurant in Wailuku had always been a meeting point for cops and today was no exception, even on a sunny Saturday afternoon police officers from the Maui Police Department populated the tables as well as the bar. They ate and drank, chatted noisily and made plans for the rest of the weekend, none of them took special notice of the foreigner who sat silently at the end of the bar, sipping patiently at his coffee as he watched his intended targets.

Paul Baines waited another few minutes until he was sure that the four police officers he was looking for had given their order, before he swiftly stood up, following the young waitress into the kitchen. He briefly looked around but the only other person in the small room was the middle-aged Asian cook, who was busy handling his kettles and pans, seemingly oblivious of Baines' presence.

The waitress on the other hand immediately noticed the trespasser in the kitchen, but before she could open her mouth, Baines flashed his newly acquired badge in her face, motioning her with a sharp gesture to follow him outside to the dim backyard. Throwing a quick glance at the item in his hand, Baines had to stifle a laughter, he still couldn't believe how easy it had been to steal the badge from the decorated leader of the Governor's task force.

Once outside, Baines straightened up to his full height as he introduced himself to the waitress, showing her the badge again before he stowed it away in his pocket. "I'm Commander McGarrett, Five-0," he said, the lie easily left his mouth. "We're investigating the misuse of drugs here on Maui, we have a reasonable suspicion that some of the MPD officers regularly consume drugs and we need evidence to prove that."

Baines had learned long ago that he was able to scare people more if he was using a low, calm voice rather than yelling at them. So he spoke very gently, satisfied that the young woman in front of him seemed to shrink from second to second.

"I want you to put this into the meals you deliver to table three, to the only four police officers in uniform," he explained, his voice and posture left no room for objection, as he handed her a small glass bottle with a clear liquid. "Twenty drops for each of them, put them into their meals or their drinks."

Pressing the bottle into her hand, Baines bent down, looking her directly into the eyes. "Did you understand?" he asked threateningly.

The waitress nodded shyly, too terrified to say a word. She was very young, probably not older than eighteen or nineteen, and it was pretty easy to intimidate her. Baines chuckled silently, he didn't even have to come up with a fake story about what he aimed to achieve with his actions. He was sure that he scared her enough, he had no doubt that she would do what he asked without hesitation.

"And talk to nobody about our little meeting," Baines added for good measure, his voice nothing more than a gentle whisper. Placing his right hand on the shoulder of the young woman, he gave it a sharp squeeze as he ordered, "Now, go back inside."

Her lips quivering slightly, the waitress stared at him for the length of a heartbeat before she turned on her heels, rushing back inside the building to fulfill Baines' wishes, not daring to look back. Baines followed her slowly, heading back to his place at the end of the bar. Taking his time to finish his coffee, he watched patiently as the waitress delivered the meals and drinks to the police officers. The four men chatted happily, trying to flirt with the women around them, and enjoying their lives, totally oblivious to the invisible threat that lay before them.

Paul Baines smiled contentedly, step two of his plan had been set in motion. Silently leaving the small restaurant, he slipped on his sunglasses as he headed toward the waiting cab that would take him back to the airport. Soon enough, the chartered helicopter would drop him off at Molokai where Baines intended to carry out the third step of his revenge against Five-0.

**(tbc)**


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you again for all the reviews and alerts :-)  
I hope you had a great weekend - are you ready for a little bit of whump?**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

"Hello, mister."

Paul Baines cringed slightly when the cheerful voice of a little boy reached his ears. There were only very few things in the world he hated more than children but for the sake of his revenge he gritted his teeth, plastering a fake smile on his face as he bent down.

"Hello there," he answered, hoping that his voice sounded friendly enough not to scare the group of children who swirled around him, every single one of them trying to be the first one to receive their portion of ice.

"Did you see us surfing?" One of the children, a skinny girl with short blond hair asked excitedly, hopping up and down as she impatiently waited for an answer as well as her turn to get some ice cream.

Baines nodded enthusiastically, much to the delight of the girl in front of him. "You did really good, I was quite impressed with your skills," he forced out, even if he had no idea if the blond girl actually had been on a surfboard let alone how well she'd performed.

"Rosie," one of the other girls whispered urgently as she tried to drag her friend away, her big brown eyes suspiciously watching Baines. "We're not supposed to talk to strangers."

"But he is no stranger, Gracie. I saw him sitting here all day long and he was talking to Mrs. Hillerman earlier," the blonde girl answered, gesturing toward the owner of the ice cream parlor. "So he isn't a stranger anymore," Rosie repeated, absolutely determined to force her point, but the other girl was equally stubborn when it came to her opinion.

"We don't even know his name, and I haven't seen him before, so he is a stranger and we won't talk to him."

Baines had to stifle a smile, he had to admit that he was quite impressed by the fierce behavior of the dark-haired girl but to be honest he hadn't expected anything less from Detective Williams' daughter. Swallowing the last bit of his chocolate flavored ice cream he watched the group of children, soon filling the tables around him, happily licking and slurping their multicolored ice.

Trying to cut out the loud chatter and giggling of the boys and girls, Baines let his gaze travel across the beach, noticing five or six adults drawing near. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward, taking a closer look at the young woman at the end of the group, he finally recognized the surf instructor, her dark hair still slightly wet from her time in the water. Baines' eyes grew wide, he slightly shook his head in astonishment, not believing what his eyes and his mind were trying to tell him.

The only reason he was on Molokai was the little dark-haired girl who sat at the table next to him, still throwing him suspicious looks from time to time. He'd never expected to also meet Officer Kono Kalakaua. Luck was truly on his side today. Now he would be able to kill two birds with one stone.

Running his hand over his face to hide his ferocious smile, Baines swiftly stood up and left the place, he couldn't risk getting recognized by the youngest member of Five-0. Turning his back on the group of adults he sauntered along the beach, heading toward his original destination, a small boat rental about half a mile away from the kids' holiday camp.

Playing expectantly with the small vial hidden in his pocket, Paul Baines tried to imagine what it would look like when one of the jet-skis raced headlong and at full speed into a surfboard. What a pity he wouldn't be around to watch the spectacle, but his presence was needed on Oahu, where the fourth and, for the time being, final step of his revenge would be executed.

* * *

Steve had spent the whole Saturday not only cleaning the house from top to bottom, but also finally repairing some long postponed things, like the few broken floor boards on the lanai, the creaking door to Mary's old bedroom and the rotten window frame on the backside of the garage. It had been a sweaty, tiresome day and he was actually glad that Danny had announced that he would spend his spare time with Gabby and that under no circumstances – and he had made that point very, very clear – would he'd like to be disturbed.

"I'll tell you once and for all, Steven," Danny had said Friday night before he'd left McGarrett's house, emphasizing every single word by poking his finger in Steve's face, "if I hear so much as one tiny little sound coming from my cell phone or your ugly face showing up on the display, I swear by the life of my daughter, you'll have my resignation letter on your desk faster than you can say 'we have a case'. It's the first time I'm actually able to spend a whole weekend with Gabby and I won't allow that you or some slimy little criminal ruin my date."

McGarrett grinned knowingly when he remembered the look of anticipation on his partner's face. Danny's relationship with Gabby had reached a new level, ever since he'd finally screwed up the courage and brought Gabby and his daughter together. Grace had immediately made it clear that she agreed with Danny's choice, she and Gabby got along great from the very beginning. Gabby's immense knowledge about almost everything related to Hawaii matched perfectly with Gracie's never-ending thirst for knowledge and she patiently answered every single question the little girl had.

The weekend passed in a rush, after the busy Saturday, Steve spent the whole Sunday doing literally nothing, he commuted between the beach, the lanai and the couch, feeling more bone-crushingly tired than actually comfortably lazy. He even did something he usually never did – he slept for almost three hours during broad daylight, awakening with a slight headache and the feeling that something was not quite right. Brushing off the weird sensation he decided to go to bed early that evening, planning to sleep off any upcoming cold or sickness.

* * *

Paul Baines was really annoyed, not to say outright furious. How could he possibly have missed something as vital as the little fact that Detective Danny Williams was in a serious relationship.

After having spent the whole Sunday in front of Williams' pathetic apartment, looking for his next victim to show up, his famous patience finally wore thin. It was obviously pure luck that the man decided to briefly come home, rushing inside to pick up some clothes before he headed back to his swanky silver roadster where a petite dark-haired beauty was waiting for his return.

Narrowing his eyes, Baines pondered for a moment before he quickly rearranged his plans. The longer he thought about it the more he liked the new idea that was forming in his mind, now he had not only Williams's daughter but also his girlfriend. All he needed to do was find out who that woman was.

* * *

When Steve awoke the next morning, he felt much better, hoping that his usual morning run would chase away the last bit of headache that nagged persistently at the back of his skull. With newfound energy he jumped out of his bed only seconds after the alarm clock went off, a habit he had acquired during his military days where lazing around hadn't exactly been very popular.

After quickly using the bathroom he slipped on his training shorts, sneakers and his favorite Navy SEAL T-shirt and less than five minutes later he was out of the house, jogging down the deserted streets into the early Hawaiian morning. With the blood pumping through his body, Steve felt more alive with every step he made and with every breath he took, the headache quickly faded away into nothingness.

Almost sixty minutes later he returned home, breathing heavily and soaked with sweat but happy and satisfied. Tossing the newspaper onto the kitchen table Steve threw a brief look at his watch, it was almost seven o'clock which meant he had a little bit more than one hour before Danny would pick him up. Gulping down a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, he started the coffee machine before he went upstairs to shower and get dressed.

Looking into the mirror McGarrett decided that he would be good without shaving for another day. Brushing his teeth, searching for something to wear and tightly wrapping a waterproof cover around his forearms had taken more than twice as much time as Steve's usual short-lived shower. Happily whistling along he finally strolled downstairs, looking forward to a cozy breakfast and a good read through the newspaper.

A steaming cup of coffee, a bowl of fresh fruit mixed with milk and cereals and the newspaper in front of him, Steve sat down at the kitchen table. As was his habit he finished his meal before he started to read, a nostalgic smile playing around his lips at the thought that he probably picked up this special trait from his father.

Pushing away the empty bowl, Steve took a sip of coffee as he opened the newspaper, the cup almost slipping from his fingers when he read the headline – _Amok at MPD, four policemen dead_. With a heavy weight settling down in his stomach he carefully put his coffee back on the table, leaning slightly forward to read the article.

Steve had read only the first few words when without any warning the room suddenly began to spin around him, the letters blurring in front of his eyes. Grabbing the edge of the table, Steve sucked in a deep breath of air, squinting his eyes to get rid of the resurfacing headache. His hands and feet were tingling, his ice-cold fingers trembling slightly against the tabletop. The simple task of breathing was almost too much, Steve felt his eyelids drooping as the air around him seemed to crush him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice was screaming at him, McGarrett knew that he quickly needed something to boost his blood pressure if he didn't want to end face flat on the floor. With all the remaining strength he could muster, Steve dragged himself to his wobbling feet, hoping that there still was a bottle of Gatorade in the fridge.

He barely managed two small steps away from the table when the dizziness increased to an unbearable level and he was no longer able to fight the darkness that pressed against his mind.

"Not good," Steve mumbled, already out cold long before his body actually hit the floor.

**(tbc)**


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks a lot for all the reviews! Are you worried for Steve? ;-)  
By the way, I plan on updating this regularly twice a week... hope you enjoy the next chapter!**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

Steve's eyelids fluttered open hesitantly, disoriented, blinking a few times, he needed a long moment until he could remember why he was lying on the kitchen floor, his cheek pressed against the cold tiles, his left arm uncomfortably squashed beneath his body. Laboriously rolling over onto his back, he pressed his palms against his eyes, breathing out a low groan.

After almost a minute, he fiercely rubbed his slightly trembling hands over his face, groaning once more as he sat up, resting his back and his head against one of the cupboards. He tried to ignore the pounding headache that hammered at the back of his skull, asking himself if he should take on the challenge to get to his feet.

Steve felt his heart speed up in his chest, adrenaline rushed through his veins when a loud, persistent noise startled him, unmistakably the horn of Danny's Camaro. Cursing silently, he threw a look at his watch, jumping to his unsteady feet when he noticed the time. Grabbing the edge of the sideboard, he squeezed his eyes shut until the last bit of dizziness dissolved, then he swiftly searched through one of the drawers for some painkillers. Not bothering to get some water, he popped two of the pills, wincing when the horn blew again, a long, piercing noise that slowly started to get on his nerves.

"I'm on my way," McGarrett growled grumpily while he quickly grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge and snatched the newspaper from the table. Briefly stopping on his way outside, he attached his weapon to his belt, looking around in search of his badge, finally remembering that it was missing since the incident at the parking lot.

Rushing outside, Steve slammed shut the door, hastily punching in the security code for the alarm system before he headed toward the waiting car. "You're early," he complained as he dropped down into the passenger's seat, ignoring the smirk on Danny's face.

Raising an eyebrow at Steve's crumpled appearance, Danny replied cheerfully, "And you're almost late. What happened? Did you get lost during your crazy morning run?"

McGarrett opened his mouth but before he was able to answer, Danny asked with a glance at Steve's bandaged forearms, "You didn't swim, did you? You know what the nice doctor said."

"No, mom, I didn't swim," Steve replied with a little sigh, rolling his eyes at Danny's overprotectiveness. Opening the bottle of Gatorade, he took a few long sips from the sports drink as he listened to Danny's retort.

"Oh God, no, I don't want to be your mom – that would mean, you were Gracie's big brother, and I don't dare to imagine all the crazy things you'd try to teach her," Williams said in a surprisingly good mood as he started the engine, pulling the car out of McGarrett's driveway.

"Why are you so hyperactive today?" Steve asked, furrowing his brow as he noticed the huge smile on Danny's face. "Usually you're all tired and grumpy on Monday morning."

"That's probably because usually I spend my weekends with you," Danny explained, still grinning brightly. "But today I'm happy because, a), I haven't heard from you in two whole days…" he raised his right hand, stretching his thumb, "b), I've had a fantastic weekend with Gabby," Danny stretched his index finger, "and c), I'll see her again this evening." Finishing the sentence, Danny's middle finger joined the other two as he pointedly raised his hand directly in front of Steve's face.

"Take your fingers out of my face, Danny, you know I hate that," Steve grumbled through gritted teeth, swatting away Danny's hand from his field of view.

Unconsciously, Steve rotated his slightly aching left wrist, he probably sprained it when he passed out earlier. Noticing not only the odd movement but also the faint expression of pain and fatigue on Steve's face, the smile slowly left Danny's lips as he asked, half curious and half concerned, "Did someone put sand in your cornflakes this morning? What's the matter with you today, Mr. I-get-up-at-four-in-the-morning-to-jog-around-the-island?"

The frown on Steve's face increased, he emptied the bottle of Gatorade before he mumbled, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Williams repeated, throwing a brief glance at his partner. "Then what's the face? And don't deny it, Steven, you do have a face."

Steve exasperatedly rolled his eyes, "And what face would that be, Danny?"

"Well, I'd say at the moment it's kind of a mixture between hangover face and sleep deprivation face," Danny replied, nodding to himself after he'd thrown another look at McGarrett.

"I have a headache," Steve finally admitted, massaging his temples to enhance the effect of the painkillers.

"So, you really have a hangover?" Danny asked snickering.

"I don't have a hangover," Steve denied fiercely. Sighing deeply, he finally confessed sheepishly, leaning his head against the headrest, "I wasn't feeling well yesterday and I probably overdid my workout this morning a little bit…"

"So, you finally admit that getting up that early and running like a fool just for fun is kind of suicidal?" Turning his head to the right to watch his partner's reaction, Danny was startled by the unhealthy pallor of Steve's skin. "Steve?" Danny asked concerned. "Are you sure you're alright? You… you don't look so good, buddy."

"Yes, Danny, I'm fine," Steve answered, returning Danny's look, unconsciously rubbing his hand over his left wrist. "As I said, just a slight headache, and I already took some painkillers, so it should be gone in a few minutes."

"What about your wrist?" Danny wanted to know, turning left into South Beretania Street which usually was the fastest way to the office on a busy Monday morning.

"Huh?" Steve asked perplexed, throwing a confused look at his partner.

"Your wrist," Danny replied, nodding toward Steve's hands. "Are you injured? You keep rotating and massaging your wrist, looks like it's hurting."

"Oh, that," McGarrett answered with a little shrug of his shoulders. "Actually I don't know what happened, I think I somehow twisted it. Or perhaps it's just a stiff muscle, I did some repair work on the house on Saturday."

Opening the newspaper he brought with him, Steve pointed at the headline on the front page, trying to change the subject as he asked, "Did you hear about that?"

"I think everyone on the Islands heard about it, it was all over the news yesterday," Williams replied, sadly nodding his head about the terrible incident.

"I just saw the headline this morning." Quickly skimming through the text, Steve furrowed his brow, "The article is very unspecific, just saying there was a killing spree at the Maui police department. Do you know anything else? What about the perp, is he also dead?"

"The news reports on TV had also been very unspecific, but I tried to get further information from some former colleagues at HPD. Everyone I spoke to was very reluctant, but what I finally found out is pretty weird." Danny sighed, running a hand over his mouth and chin before he continued, "To put it in a nutshell, it looks like the four dead police officers came to blows over something, it started with a nasty brawl and ended in a deadly shootout."

Briefly glancing at Steve, Danny noticed the look of total surprise and horror on his partner's face, exactly matching the feelings he had when he learned what happened.

"Okay, if that's the truth, I can understand why the reports about what happened are pretty unspecific," Steve finally said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Do you think the Governor wants to put us on the case?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I rather think it might be a case for IA, but we'll see," he said as he pulled the Camaro into its usual parking space in front of the Five-0 headquarters.

Exiting the car, they rushed into the building, not surprised by the fact that Denning was waiting for them in their office. The dark-skinned Governor looked even more stern than usual as he greeted the two men with a brief nod and a mere, "Gentlemen."

"My time is very limited, so I hope you don't mind if we skip the small talk. You probably know why I'm here," he said, waiting for Steve's and Danny's affirmation before he continued. "The incident on Maui is more than disturbing and at the moment our highest priority is to find out what really happened before we inform the public. The last thing we need is a mass panic, too much damage has already been done by some stupid newspaper reports, using words like amok in their headlines." Frowning angrily, he pointed at the newspaper in Steve's hand.

Steve and Danny exchanged quizzical glances when the Governor fell quiet, just clasping his hands behind his back, angrily pacing up and down the room.

"What do you want us to do, Sir?" McGarrett asked after he'd cleared his throat, trying to ignore the slight headache that still nagged persistently behind his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Denning came to a halt, staring at the head of his task force. "I want Five-0 to keep still," he answered, earning two surprised looks from the men in front of him.

"I… I don't understand," Steve began, but he was quickly interrupted when the Governor raised his hand.

"Commander, I would like to run the investigation as silently as possible because if the public learn that Five-0 is handling the case, then there will probably be no way to keep the panic at bay. That's why I don't want you and the whole task force to make an official appearance. However, you will be helpful by doing some research, providing as much background information as possible to the police. You will also participate in all meetings with the police and with me about the case. My assistant will inform you about the dates."

Throwing a look at his watch, Denning headed toward the door. "The first meeting will be at 11 o'clock in my office." With these words he exited the office, leaving Steve and Danny behind a little speechless.

"Wow, today he's even more of a ray of sunshine than usual," Danny finally remarked, shaking his head about the Governor's entrance.

* * *

More than ten hours and what felt like a million meetings later, Steve's headache had surprisingly dissolved into thin air. He felt a lot better than earlier that day, the little episode in his kitchen almost forgotten.

Danny on the other hand got more and more antsy with every passing moment, checking the time literally every minute. Furrowing his brow, Steve just wanted to open his mouth to ask Danny what was going on when it finally hit him. Swiftly crossing the room, he approached his partner, who was bent over the big computer table, impatiently browsing through some old MPD files, where they hoped to find something useful. Without saying a word, Steve grabbed Danny's shoulders, whirling him around and pushing him toward the door.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Danny asked, his voice laced with tiredness and anger as he turned around to face the larger man. "Ever heard of personal space, you Neanderthal?"

"Go home, Danno," Steve said simply, clearly unimpressed by Danny's disgruntled demeanor.

"What?" Williams replied, a baffled look on his face. "What are you talking about? We're not finished here, why would I go home now?"

"Because you have a date," Steve answered, grinning smugly at his friend. "And contrary to what you think, I actually do have good manners, and I know that it's not polite to keep a lady waiting."

Nudging Danny toward the exit, he repeated, "Go home, and have a nice evening with Gabby."

"But…" Danny started, only to be interrupted by another shove from Steve.

"Do you want me to pull rank on you?" McGarrett asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he raised his eyebrows. "I could order you to leave." Glaring at Danny for almost a full minute, Steve suddenly rose to his full height as he stood to attention, his voice steely when he barked out, "Detective Williams, I order you to immediately leave this office. You are dismissed!"

Narrowing his eyes, Danny eyeballed his partner, resisting the urge to take a step backward. "Do you know that you're pretty scary when you're doing that? I guess you managed to scare the shit out of all the little soldiers under your command."

"Danny," Steve said warningly.

"We're not finished here, Steve," Danny repeated with a tired sigh. "I can't just go, leaving you to do all the work."

"There's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow," Steve replied. "I just need to speak to Max about the autopsy reports and then I'll call it a day too."

Raising his hand to stop Danny before he was even able to open his mouth, Steve said, "Just go, okay?"

Silently staring at McGarrett, Danny finally gave in, a grateful smile slowly forming on his lips. "Okay," he said, locking eyes with Steve. "Thank you."

Steve just nodded, once more pushing Danny toward the door as he remarked, "Say hello to Gabby from me. And enjoy your evening."

"I will," Danny replied on his way toward the exit. "See you tomorrow, I'll pick you up."

Just when he reached the big glass doors, he heard Steve calling out to him. "Oh, and Danny?"

Without turning around, Williams grinned brightly, waving his left hand through the air. "Yeah, yeah, I know, Steven. Sailors, not soldiers," he smirked over his shoulder as he finally left the office. Yes, that little joke definitely worked every single time.

Looking after his partner, Steve shook his head slightly, he just didn't get why Danny always tried to upset him and why he was stupid enough to always fall for it.

Sighing, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he fished for his cell phone. Punching in Max's number, he impatiently waited for the coroner to pick up.

"Max? It's McGarrett. What can you tell me so far?"

Almost ten minutes later, Steve's ears were ringing from all the medical terms that Max had casually thrown around. Steve had understood only about ten percent of Max's report, but he was pretty sure that he at least got the most important parts.

From what he actually did understand, the story Danny told him in the car earlier that day seemed to be true. All four bodies showed heavy bruises and hematomas, most of them in the face and on the hands, the rumors about a brawl were apparently correct. The causes of death for all victims were gunshot wounds, judging from the caliber they were shot with their own service weapons. Max took blood and tissue samples from the four bodies, but he told McGarrett that the toxicological findings probably needed two more days.

There had been no eyewitnesses to the incident, just fellow police officers who heard loud fighting noises and angry cries, and a little while later at least five or six shots. Nobody could explain why the officers who had worked together in a team for several years, ended up in such a deadly fight.

Just as he'd shut down the computers, Steve remembered having read in one of the MPD files something about two other police officers who sometimes worked alongside the four dead men. Slowly leaving the office, he went outside to wait for the cab which would take him home since Danny had taken the Camaro with him. Staring into the beginning twilight, Steve made a mental note to check out those other two officers first thing in the morning and all the former cases the team had worked on. Perhaps their deaths were more than just a random outbreak of horrendous violence.

* * *

It had taken Baines another full day of gathering information about the woman at Detective Williams' side, but by Monday evening he had found out everything he needed to know about Dr. Gabrielle Asano, or Gabby to her friends.

That together with the news reports about the four dead police officers on Maui raised his spirits immensely. Very content with the recent events, he threw one last look at the young man in front of him, fishing an empty vial out of his pocket, Baines watched curiously how the myriads of tiny shards danced across the tiles after he carelessly dropped it to the dirty floor.

"You know what to do," Baines said, his voice menacingly gentle, hoping that the filthy small-time thug was indeed as excellent a sharpshooter as he bragged about. "And I don't accept failure, do you understand?"

He was met with a drowsy gaze from glassy eyes, telling him that the drug he had administered to the man's beer earlier that evening had already unfolded its full potential. Confident in his victory, Baines smiled brightly as he turned around to leave the small, fetid dwelling. Stopping briefly in front of the window, he glanced at the neighboring house, just in time to see Dr. Asano close the curtains to her bedroom, animatedly chatting with the blond man who was waiting for her in the background.

**(tbc)**


	5. Chapter 5

Are you ready for some more whump? ;-)  
Enjoy the next chapter and thanks a lot for reading...**  
**

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**Chapter 5:**

Tuesday morning turned out to pass almost exactly the same as the morning before, with only a few little variations.

As usual, Steve jumped out of his bed only a heartbeat after the alarm clock went off. Looking at his still bandaged forearms, he decided to wait one more day before he went for a swim. Rubbing his eyes, he deeply breathed in and out a few times. The headache that suddenly had descended on him the night before on the way from the bathroom to the bedroom, making him squeeze his eyes shut in pain and collapse into his bed, was almost completely gone.

Just like the previous day, the pounding in his head dissolved with every step he took and Steve returned home soaking wet, satisfied and feeling better than an hour before. Pouring a glass of orange juice, McGarrett also gulped down half a bottle of Gatorade, just as prevention because he didn't intend to kiss the kitchen floor again soon.

After a quick shower and the usual morning hygiene – this time including a clean shave – Steve headed upstairs toward the kitchen where he, contrary to his custom, immediately opened the newspaper. The first few pages were crowded with articles about the four dead policemen, he skipped the ones that told sad stories about mourning widows and fatherless children. A few minutes later he'd skimmed through most of the texts, satisfied that the press conference with the Governor had successfully discouraged the journalists to use words like 'amok' when they commented on the tragic incident on Maui.

Folding the newspaper, he finished the isotonic drink with a large gulp, putting the empty plastic bottle in the garbage. With a cup of hot coffee and some fresh fruits mixed with the cereals he sat down at the table, a quick look at his watch told him that Danny would be here in about fifteen minutes to pick him up.

The most essential difference to the previous day was probably the fact that he didn't even make it halfway through his breakfast before a wave of dizziness hit him. The spoon dropped from Steve's ice-cold fingers, falling to the floor with a clattering noise, spilling drops of milk and tiny pieces of fruit over the tiles.

Deciding that lying down would probably not be the most stupid idea at the moment, McGarrett tried to stand up, but his tingling legs refused to cooperate. Blindly reaching for the edge of the table to remain upright, he feverishly blinked against the darkness that clouded his view. His trembling hands slipped off as the room span wildly around him and knocking over the table, he was unable to hold his weight any longer, collapsing in a boneless heap onto the floor of his kitchen.

* * *

Danny yawned as he tiredly cracked open one eye, briefly glancing at the alarm clock on the bedstand, noticing that he had almost half an hour before he actually needed to get up. Smiling happily, he snuggled up to the woman by his side, closing his eyes as he breathed in the sweet fragrance of her hair.

"Danny?" he heard the whispered question, feeling a movement next to him. "Are you awake?"

Too comfortable to actually give a coherent answer, Danny just went for a mumbled, "Mmh?" which caused Gabby to turn around so that she came face to face with him.

Laughing silently at the sight of Danny's hair which stuck out in every imaginable direction, Gabby raised her hand, tenderly smoothing back the blond strands. A smile appeared on Danny's face when he felt her touch, with his eyes still closed he wrapped his arm around her body, gently caressing her back.

After a few minutes Gabby placed a tender kiss on Danny's lips, reluctantly wriggling herself out of his embrace. "I'll make breakfast," she said softly, looking around for her clothes as she got up.

Although he missed the warm body next to him, Danny's disappointed pout dissolved quickly when he opened his eyes and his glance fell on Gabby who was just about to slip on one of his shirts. Knowing that Danny was watching her, the dark-haired woman smiled slightly, allowing herself plenty of time to slowly close the buttons seductively.

Stifling another yawn, Danny stretched his limbs and quickly stood up, following Gabby to the window. Preventing her from opening the curtains, he came to a halt right behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, holding her in a tight embrace. He gently kissed the side of her neck, working all his way up to her earlobe until she started to giggle.

"Your pancakes are the best in the whole of Hawaii," he stated out of the blue, whispering the words in her ear before he planted another kiss on her neck.

Cocking her head a little bit to the right, a bright smile spread across Gabby's face as she asked, "And you know that because…" Her voice trailed off when Danny's lips touched a particular sensitive spot on the crook of her neck and she sighed faintly, almost forgetting what she wanted to ask.

"… because I'm the best detective in Hawaii," Danny confidently finished the sentence.

Resting his chin on Gabby's shoulder, he asked innocently, "And don't you think that the best pancakes are just the right thing for the best detective?"

Gabby's smile transformed into a happy laughter when she turned around to face Danny, wrapping her arms around his waist, she looked him deeply in the eyes. "But my pancakes are not for free," she said provocatively, her lips only an inch away from Danny's. "How would the best detective pay for the best pancakes?"

Pretending to ponder for a moment, Danny offered, nodding toward the window, "I could open the curtains for you."

Seeing Gabby squinting at him, he added generously, "And I could make the bed."

Frowning at the man in her arms, Gabby asked amusedly, "Is that all you can offer, Detective Williams?"

Looking at her for a long moment, Danny smiled impishly, finally answering her question with a long passionate kiss. "How about that?" he asked hoarsely when their lips slowly broke away.

"I think that sealed the deal," Gabby replied a little breathless, kissing Danny once more before she hesitantly released him, slowly walking toward the kitchen.

Looking after her for a few moments, Danny cherished the hot fire that was burning in his heart, at the moment just feeling like the happiest man on these godforsaken islands. Still smiling like a fool, he put on a T-shirt and sloppily made the bed, smoothing the sheets just enough to silence his conscience.

Danny's stomach grumbled in anticipation when he thought about the pancakes Gabby was preparing, his mouth literally watering at the appetizing smell that drifted over from the kitchen. Crossing the small distance to the window with a few steps, he started to open the curtains when a loud clattering filled the air, immediately followed by a stream of curses.

Grinning brightly when the words reached his ears, Danny briefly thought about all the differences between Gabby and Rachel, who never ever would have dared to contaminate her British tongue with words like the ones that were still coming out of the kitchen. Shaking his head, Danny quickly banned his Ex from his mind, leaning forward slightly to peer out of the bedroom.

"Is everything alright over there?" he asked cheerfully as he pulled open the curtains.

Blinking against the bright sunlight that streamed into the room, he was still waiting for an answer when all of a sudden the window burst into a million little fragments. Danny heard the shot at the same time as white hot pain sliced through his body. The impact of the bullet threw him backwards where he crashed into the wall, feeling his head collide with something solid.

The last thing he remembered before the world around him faded to black was Gabby's terrified scream.

* * *

The ringing of a cell phone penetrated the sickly silence that filled the kitchen, but nothing and nobody stirred. The spilled coffee had long gone cold, the broken fragments and the contents of the breakfast bowl lay scattered on the floor, the knocked over kitchen table concealed McGarrett's unmoving form.

Twice more the phone rang and fell silent again before Steve finally blinked open his eyes, slowly sitting up with a low groan. Struggling to his feet, he immediately plopped down on the next chair. Elbows on his knees, he leaned forward, hiding his face in his hands as he took several deep breaths.

After a while he tiredly scrubbed his palms over his eyes, swallowing against the furry feeling in his mouth. Steve threw a brief glance at his watch, his brow furrowing when he noticed that Danny was long overdue, his partner should have been here almost twenty minutes ago. Actually more than grateful for the delay, Steve pondered if he possibly could find the strength to get up when the ringing of his phone startled him to full awareness.

His heart bumping uncomfortably firm in his chest, he sat up straight, his fingers still slightly trembling when he fished the phone out of his pocket. Noticing Danny's name flash at the display, Steve took the call, pressing the phone tightly against his ear.

"Danny?" Cringing at the hoarse tone of his voice, Steve quickly cleared his throat before he repeated, "Danny? Where are you? You're almost twenty minutes late. I'm waiting." He tried to keep his voice casual, hiding the fact that he had been incapacitated only mere minutes ago, even if he was sure that Danny probably immediately picked up on his strange tone.

Inwardly preparing for the rant that undoubtedly lay ahead, McGarrett frowned slightly when he was greeted with nothing but silence. Narrowing his eyes to clear his slightly blurred view, he held the phone in front of his face, checking if the connection was still there.

"Danny?" he tried again, once he made sure that the call was still active, and finally there was some kind of response.

Cold fear gripped him, and Steve's heart dropped to his stomach when he heard the trembling voice at the other end of the line.

"Steve? It's Gabby…"

**(tbc)**


	6. Chapter 6

I cannot thank you enough for all your nice comments - they really make my day! :-) Keep 'em coming...**  
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**Chapter 6:**

The young man stared over the ocean, his eyes glassy, his mind clouded and drowsy. Tommo, as everyone called him, wasn't exactly sure why it was so important to watch that surf instructor – who was actually pretty hot – he just knew that right now it was his highest priority. He had tried to remember but his thoughts dissolved into thin air every time he wanted to grasp them. The only thing he knew for sure was that failure was not an option, the man with the gentle voice had made that point very clear.

Tommo was on a mission and he needed to make sure that he accomplished it. He blinked slowly against the bright sunlight and the glittering waves, never taking his eyes from the young woman on the surfboard.

"Tommo?"

He heard the voice, but he couldn't bring himself to care, numbly staring over the ocean toward the holiday camp kids. There was still no sign of the dark-haired girl he was looking for, only the pretty surf instructor…

"Tommo? Hel-lo? Earth to Tommo?"

The voice was only sluggishly penetrating his thoughts, he tried to wave it away like an annoying fly. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated on the kids that were waiting on the beach for their turn on the surfboard. Yes, there she was, playing in the sand and chatting with a skinny, blonde girl, her dark ponytail flapping in the wind.

"Thomas?" the voice finally said impatiently, at the same time as he felt a touch on his shoulder.

Hearing his birth name, Tommo just saw red, he couldn't stand it when people called him Thomas. A white, piercing anger whooshed through his clouded brain, jumping to his feet, he violently shoved the girl away, not caring that she screamed out when she fell to the ground.

Actually, the name Thomas was not that bad, but he lived in Hawaii and that first name together with the surname 'Magnum' was an absolute no-go, he would never understand what got into his parents to name their son Thomas.

The girl was crying now, somewhere in the far back corner of his mind, Tommo felt that he was acting completely out of order, but his thoughts were again drifting away, he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Leaving his sobbing girlfriend behind, he set off for the waiting jet-ski to fulfill his given task.

* * *

"Gabby?" Steve asked, his heart rate speeding up while he desperately waited for the dark-haired woman to answer. "Gabby? Where's Danny? What happened?"

There was no answer, but Steve could hear Gabby's heavy breathing on the other end of the line, it almost sounded like sobs. He had absolutely no idea what was going on but he was aware that he needed to help her calm down to get any information. Trying to give his own voice a reassuring tone, he said soothingly, "Gabby, calm down, okay? Everything's gonna be alright, do you hear me? Just answer my questions, okay?" He made a short pause, letting his words sink in, before he took a deep breath and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Oh God, yes, I'm fine," Gabby answered, her voice still slightly trembling. "But Danny is… he was shot, Steve. Someone shot at him through my bedroom window."

Adrenaline rushed through Steve's body, he pushed the fear for his partner to the back of his mind as he jumped to his feet. "Where are you now?" he barked out, rougher than he meant it.

"Queens Medical Center," Gabby replied immediately.

"Okay, stay where you are," he instructed her. "I'm on my way, I'll meet you there in about 15 minutes."

Not bothering about the mess, McGarrett rushed out of the kitchen, grabbing his keys, he jogged to his car, the cell phone still pressed tightly to his ear.

"Gabby, I need you to tell me what happened." Dreading her answer, he asked, "How's Danny? Is he alright?"

"I don't know. They took him straight to the ER, but they won't tell me anything…" her voice trailed off as Gabby drew in a shaky breath.

"What happened?" Steve repeated anxiously, as he floored the car out of his driveway and onto the street.

"I'm not sure," Gabby answered his question. "I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud bang and a window bursting. When I came into the bedroom, Danny was…" She interrupted herself, swallowing down the emotions that bubbled up inside her. "He was lying on the floor, bleeding and not responding."

Running a trembling hand over his mouth and chin, Steve noticed another incoming call on his cell phone, frowning slightly when he looked at the caller's ID. "Gabby, I have a call on the other line. Everything's gonna be alright, okay? I'll meet you in a few minutes." Waiting for the woman to give her okay, McGarrett tapped the display of his phone to switch the calls.

"Duke? What's up?" Steve asked, not really sure why Sergeant Lukela was calling him right now.

"Steve," Duke answered, he sounded slightly breathless as if he was walking. "We got him."

The frown on Steve's forehead deepened, he had no clue what the man was talking about. "You got… who?" he asked in a confused tone, throwing a brief look over his shoulder before he changed the lane to pass a few slower cars.

"The man who shot at Danny," Duke answered. He took a deep breath before he quickly continued, "You know that Danny was injured, don't you?"

"Yes, I know," Steve replied, anger welling up in him. Why did everyone know what happened long before he had been informed? "Who is it? I want to talk to him later," he stated, just as he pulled the car into an empty parking space in front of the hospital.

"Well, I think that won't be possible," Duke said slowly. "He's dead, looks like he killed himself."

Killing the engine, Steve stared incredulously at his cell phone. Who would shoot at Danny while he was in Gabby's apartment, and afterwards kill himself? That didn't make any sense and Steve felt the headache slowly creeping back into his skull.

"We're taking the body to the morgue," Duke's voice penetrated his dark thoughts. "Do you have any news about Danny's condition?"

Tiredly running a hand through his hair, Steve said, "No, not yet. I just arrived at the hospital." Exiting the car, he rushed toward the entrance. "I'll keep you informed. Mahalo for your help, Duke."

Steve climbed the stairs to the entrance doors, he didn't need to ask for the way to the ER, he had been here a few times too often for his liking. He could see from afar the dark-haired woman, worriedly knotting her hands as she paced up and down the corridor.

"Gabby," he called out, closing the distance between them with a few large strides.

Turning around, Gabby exhaled a deep sigh when she recognized the Ex-SEAL. "I'm so glad you're finally here."

"Any news on Danny?" McGarrett asked, leading her to a small group of uncomfortable looking seats when he noticed her pale face and her slightly trembling form. It was the first time in their relationship that Danny had been seriously injured and all the stress, the waiting and the uncertainty were obviously taking their toll on the young woman. And for heaven's sake, Steve couldn't blame her, he'd also been shaken to the core when he'd heard what happened.

"No," Gabby whispered, reluctantly lowering herself down on one of the chairs.

"Sit down," he said gently. "I'll get us something to drink."

Only a few moments later he was back with two bottles of coke, handing one of them to Gabby as he sat down next to her. He gulped down half of his own bottle, hoping that the sugar would help to chase away the aftereffects of his involuntary floor-dive earlier that morning.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Steve asked, urging Gabby to take a sip of her coke.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Gabby took a deep breath before she explained, "Danny was still in the bedroom while I was preparing breakfast. I dropped a plate and at first I was not sure what that other bursting sound was about." The more she talked, the stronger her voice became and the faster the words flowed. "There was also a loud bang and when I came into the bedroom, I saw the shards of the window and all the blood..."

Gabby carefully put the bottle on the floor and tightly crossed her arms in front of her chest as if to suppress a shiver.

Steve's eyes briefly wandered to the ER, but there was no movement indicating what was going on behind the tightly closed doors. Noticing Gabby's rigid posture, he put his arm around her shoulders, awkwardly pulling her to his chest. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sure everything will be alright," he said, not only to encourage the woman by his side, he also needed to believe that everything would be fine. "What happened then?"

Relaxing a little bit, now she was no longer alone, Gabby continued, "I quickly closed the curtains, because I wasn't sure if the shooter was still out there."

Steve looked at her in surprise, impressed that she would think about that in such a situation.

"When Danny didn't respond, I called an ambulance and tried to stop the bleeding." Raising her head to look at Steve, she said quietly, "I tried a few times, but I couldn't reach you. So I called the police and told them what happened."

"You did really good." Gently squeezing her arm, Steve struggled against the guilt that he hadn't been able to answer, "I'm sorry that I didn't hear your calls."

After a long moment, Steve finally removed his arm around her shoulders. "I'll go look for a doctor or a nurse. There has to be someone who knows about Danny's condition."

Walking down the corridor, he came to a halt in front of a small reception desk, impatiently waiting for the nurse to finish her phone call. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally looked up, giving him a friendly smile as she asked, "May I help you?"

"I need to know about my partner, Detective Danny Williams. He was brought in a while ago with a gunshot wound," Steve said, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on the counter.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said, flashing Steve an apologetic smile. "I can only provide this kind of information to the next of kin."

"But I am listed as Detective Williams next of kin," McGarrett replied, hoping that he would soon learn about his partner's condition.

Glancing at Steve for a second, the nurse searched through her computer until she found the file she was looking for. "Can you identify yourself?"

Steve straightened himself, searching through his pockets for his ID. A frown formed on his forehead, when he didn't find it, he had been in such a hurry when he left his house that he had obviously forgotten to pocket his wallet.

Throwing what he hoped was an endearing smile at the nurse, he said confidently, "My name is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, I'm the head of Five-0 and Detective Williams is a member of my task force."

"Well, that's nice, Commander," the nurse replied, clearly not impressed by Steve's statement, "but you could be King Kamehameha, or the pope, or even Elvis. I'm not allowed to give you any information as long as you cannot confirm your identity."

"I understand that you have to follow the hospital policy, but can't you make an exception?" Steve asked, looking pleadingly at the nurse.

Shaking her head, the nurse repeated, still friendly, but with a hint of steel in her voice, "I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to give you any information. Would you please leave now?"

"Listen, all I know is that my partner was shot and that he was unconscious when he was brought in. I have no idea how bad he's hurt or if he's even alive." Steve retorted more sharply than intended, his slightly pounding headache and the worry for Danny messing up with his ability to remain calm and nice. "I just need to know how he's doing."

The nurse watched him closely, probably pondering if she should call security or if she could handle the man in front of her alone. She was just about to say something when an exasperated voice broke the silence.

"Steven, for heaven's sake, stop yelling. This is a hospital."

Whirling around at the sound of his partner's voice, Steve found himself face to face with Danny. Two steps behind him, Gabby was waiting, a relieved smile on her face and her posture much more relaxed than a few minutes ago. Staring open-mouthed at the smaller man for the length of a heartbeat, Steve grabbed Danny's upper arms, oblivious to the lines of pain on Danny's forehead that his touch provoked.

"Danny!" Steve called out, squeezing his fingers tighter, causing Williams to breathe out a pained groan.

"Hey, did you hear what I said, you moron? Would you please stop yelling? My head feels like someone is working with a huge jackhammer all the way through my brain. I don't need you, shouting and screaming in my face like a maniac."

Nodding toward the nurse who smiled understandingly at the two men, Danny said, "Sorry about his behavior, but he lost his manners somewhere between the womb and kindergarten - if he actually ever had some, something that still needs to be proved."

Sizing up his partner from head to toe, Steve was relieved that the only visible injury was a nasty gash on Danny's left temple, tightly closed with six or seven stitches. Danny was a little bit paler than usual, but apart from the wound on the side of his face, he seemed to be alright.

"God, Danny, are you okay?" Steve asked breathlessly, his fingers still digging into Danny's biceps.

"I'm fine, Steven," Danny replied, trying to wriggle himself out of Steve's grip. "But I would feel a lot better if you'd let go of my arm. That gunshot wound hurts enough without you pinching it."

Steve needed a moment until he processed Danny's words, but then he released his grip on Danny's arms as if he'd been burnt. "Oh shit, I'm sorry, Danny, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Danny said with a brisk wave of his hand, grimacing when dull pain throbbed through his arm. He covered his left bicep with his right hand, cautiously massaging the hurting area as he turned around toward Gabby. "Come on, let's go. I hate hospitals."

Throwing a concerned look at his partner, Steve asked, "Are you allowed to leave? What's with your arm?"

"Nothing serious, it's just a graze. I was lucky that I had turned away from the window when the shot was fired," Danny explained while he pulled Gabby in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry that I scared you," he whispered in her ear, gently running his right hand up and down her back until he felt the last bit of tension drop from her slender body.

"And what about the head wound?" McGarrett raised his hand, pointing his index finger toward his own temple.

Danny narrowed his eyes, trying to remember what exactly happened, but his memory of the incident was a little bit hazy. Shrugging his shoulders he said, "Guess, I wasn't so lucky with that. I just remember hitting my head on something after I got shot…"

"Maybe the edge of the wardrobe?" Gabby interrupted him, gently tracing her fingers over Danny's temple.

"Guess you finally met something that was even harder than your head," Steve said, trying to keep a straight face. He was just so damn happy that Williams seemed to be alright, he couldn't resist teasing him a little bit, but the smirk was wiped off his face when he literally felt the adrenaline dump from his body, leaving him shaky and a bit breathless.

Glaring at his partner, Danny was just about to give some sort of quick-witted answer when he noticed Steve's appearance. "Whoa, hey Steve," he said, imitating Steve's former action when he gripped the other man's arm. "You're not gonna faint on me, do you?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Steve squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head in an attempt to clear the fog in his mind while he concentrated on Danny's hand on his arm. After a few moments he opened his eyes, noticing Danny's concerned gaze on him.

"I just felt dizzy for a moment, I'm alright now," Steve tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, right, and I'm the Queen of England," Danny retorted, his hand still protectively on Steve's arm.

"Really, I'm fine," Steve reaffirmed. His let his eyes travel over the wound on Danny's temple and after a moment of awkward silence, he finally added quietly, "I'm glad that you're okay."

* * *

The blue and silver Kawasaki 250x raced through the waves, with its 250 HP it was one of the most powerful jet-skis available. Tommo steered the vehicle into a sharp left-hand bend, enjoying the speed, the wind tugging at his hair, the cool water splashing in his face.

After a few long hours he finally got what he'd been waiting for – the dark-haired girl and the cute surf instructor together on one board.

Tommo squinted his eyes when a hint of doubt floated through his mind. He really wasn't sure why he was here, out on the water, racing his jet-ski toward two innocent people, but the thought disappeared as quickly as it had entered his drowsy mind.

Accelerating the jet-ski, Tommo turned his face to the sun as he set course for the surfboard.

**(tbc)**


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to all of you who reviewed or just read the story - I hope you enjoy the next chapter.**  
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* * *

**Chapter 7:**

"Duke? What can you tell me about the shooter?" Looking out of the car window as he listened to Sergeant Lukela's explanations, Steve saw Danny escorting Gabby up to the entrance door of the Bishop museum.

After they had left the hospital, Danny had insisted on taking Gabby to her place of work. Even if he didn't say anything, Steve knew that he was worried for her safety. Until now they had no clue who the sniper was, if he had been after Danny or Gabby or if the whole incident was plainly and simply coincidence and bad luck.

Danny and Gabby came to a halt in front of the building, chatting for two or three minutes, Danny embraced his girlfriend, holding her tight for another minute before he released her. Steve noticed that Danny's gestures were much more one-handed than usual, his injured arm seemed to incapacitate Danny more that he would admit earlier. Finally the couple shared a kiss, Gabby threw a last glance over her shoulder, giving Danny a tender smile as she entered the museum.

Standing rooted to the spot for a long moment, Williams stared after her, worry and fear so prominent on his face that Steve clearly recognized them, even from the distance of the parking space. Finally a jolt moved through Danny's body, he turned around, running his right hand over his hair as he headed back to the car.

"Mahalo, Duke," McGarrett said, ending the call just as Danny opened the door and slid in the passenger's seat.

All the tension left Danny's body, now that Gabby was gone and he didn't need to keep up the feigned serenity. Tiredly scrubbing his hands over his face, Danny breathed out a deep sigh, pretending not to notice the concerned look in his partner's eyes.

Giving Danny a moment to regain his composure, Steve said quietly, "Danny, he's dead, okay? The guy who shot at you is dead. He's no longer a threat for you or for Gabby."

Letting his hands drop to his lap, Danny looked at Steve out of bloodshot eyes. "God, Steve, she could have been killed. Gabby could have been killed this morning, shot through her bedroom window in cold blood. Do you know that it was pure luck that it was me who opened the curtains?" His voice pained and nothing more than a whisper at first, Danny became more and more agitated the longer he spoke. "Who the heck was that guy, Steve? I want to know everything about that SOB, okay? I need to make sure that Gabby's life is not in danger, that she is safe."

"Hey, calm down, Danny, I hear you and I'm totally on your side," Steve said, scrolling through his cell phone until he found the report Duke promised to send him.

"Listen, that's what we know so far," handing Danny the phone, McGarrett pointed at the photo on the display. "The shooter's name is Andrew Creek, he served with the Marine Corps, a highly decorated sharpshooter with a bright future, but then, about two years ago, he was dishonorably discharged for repeatedly stealing from his fellow Marines. There were a dozen reports over the last few months, obviously he couldn't handle alcohol very well. He picked a lot of fights in different bars, but he had never before pulled a gun on someone."

Staring at the photo, Danny said pensively, "I think I met him once or twice, he lived right next to Gabby."

"You met him?" Steve asked surprised. "So, that means you knew him?"

"Oh, no, no, I didn't know him," Danny replied quickly, slightly shaking his head. "As I said, I just met him a few times, and I talked to him briefly the other day, just a few minutes of small talk as I waited for Gabby. He was a nice guy, he seemed quite normal to me…" Throwing a smirking side glance at Steve, he added," I mean as normal as an ex-military guy can be."

Steve narrowed his eyes, but he decided not to take the bait this time. Starting the engine, he pulled the car out of the parking space as he asked, "Anything else you know about him?"

"Gabby told me a bit about him, but I don't think she knew him very well. He lived in the neighborhood for about two years, probably moved there directly after he was discharged. Gabby said, he was nice and polite if he was sober, but if he was drunk – which was at least once or twice a week – he was loud and a bit pushy. She didn't admit it but I think he scared her, but he was never violent around his neighborhood."

"He probably saved that for his bar brawls," Steve commented with dry sarcasm.

"So, what do you think? Did he just lose it?" Williams asked. "Maybe he was drinking too much and then he snapped, first spraying bullets all over the place before he killed himself?"

"Maybe…" Steve replied slowly, shrugging his shoulders, but Danny could see that he didn't believe that theory. "Duke said the forensic people found nothing unusual in the apartment except for some shards of glass, perhaps from a small vial."

"Drugs?" Danny asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Either that or some prescribed medicine, I guess we have to wait for the autopsy and lab results," Steve said, impatiently drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the traffic light to turn green.

Sighing deeply, Danny leaned his head against the headrest, unconsciously rubbing his right hand over his injured arm as he asked, "Speaking of autopsy… What about the Maui case? Did you talk to Max yesterday evening?"

"I did," Steve nodded, filling Danny in on the meager information Max gave him.

"Do you remember something about two other police officers who used to team up with the four dead ones?" Steve asked while he continued their ride to the Five-0 headquarters. "I think I read about them in one of the files but I can't remember."

"Yeah, I think I remember," Danny said, narrowing his eyes as he tried to recall the information. "There were two women on the team. One moved to the mainland almost a year ago, the other one is dead. I remember her because it was a really tragic story."

"Why?" Steve wanted to know. "What happened?"

"She was on maternity leave when a drunken driver crashed into her car," Danny explained. Taking a deep breath, he continued quietly, "She and her newborn baby were killed instantly."

"Shit," Steve whispered appalled.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Steve cleared his throat and asked, "What about the other woman?"

Danny shook his head, "All I know is that she moved to the mainland, I don't…"

He was interrupted when Steve suddenly and without warning slammed on the brakes, causing the car to come to a halt with screeching tires. Danny was thrown forward, the seatbelt painfully cutting into his torso.

"What the hell are you doing, you freak?" Danny yelled, his hands flailing as he looked daggers at Steve. "Have you gone batshit crazy? I know you like driving like a maniac, but a little warning…"

"Danny, over there!" Once more Danny was interrupted as Steve grabbed his forearm, pointing at a group of eight or nine teenagers who had gathered at the next street corner. "That's the kid who stole my badge."

* * *

„One, two, three…" Grace said, jumping to her feet on the count of three. She managed to find her balance perfectly on the slippery surfboard that was bobbing slightly on the waves, never in need of Kono's help, who floated effortlessly in the cool water beside the board.

"That was very good, Gracie," Kono praised. "Just one thing, never look down at your feet."

Grinning at Danny's daughter, Kono asked, "One more time before we catch a wave?"

Grace nodded enthusiastically, letting herself drop back onto the board. Counting once more to three, she jumped up, this time her gaze remaining fixed on the horizon, her feet set in a perfect angle to keep her balance.

Beaming with pride, she brightly smile at Kono, "That was good, wasn't it?"

"That was perfect," the young woman agreed. "You're a natural when it comes to surfing."

_Wonder where that comes from_, Kono thought with amusement, remembering her very first surfing lesson with Danny.

"Okay, Grace," Kono said, climbing onto the board behind the dark-haired girl. "Let's catch a good wave."

Having spent almost her whole youth in the water and on a surfboard, Kono had developed a sixth sense for anything unusual concerning the ocean. Feeling a prickle at the back of her neck, she looked around attentively. At this time of the year it was highly unlikely that a shark would go astray in this part of the ocean but better safe than sorry. Closely watching the waves, she couldn't find any sign of danger, they seemed to be all alone out in the cool, blue water. About a mile offshore Kono could see a jet-ski slashing through the waves, roughly heading their way.

Turning her attention back to Grace, she asked, "Are you ready?"

Showing her adopted aunt one of her trademark wide grins, Grace nodded, barely able to keep her excitement at bay.

Kono was about to explain the procedure when the prickle at her neck increased. Engine noise reached her ears. She turned her head just in time to see the blue and silver jet-ski racing in their very direction, only a few more moments before it would crash into their boards. Kono had only a fraction of a second to make a decision.

"Grace, jump," she yelled, grabbing the girl in front of her as she jumped off the board into the water, never taking her eyes from the jet-ski and its driver. Her heart raced when she looked into the face of the young man, shocked to see that he was obviously enjoying his actions immensely.

At the very last moment, he pulled the vehicle to the left, sending a spate of water over Kono and Grace, their surfboards bouncing and tossing viciously on the bow wave.

"What the hell…" Kono cursed under her breath, treading water as she reinforced her grip around Grace's waist. "Everything alright, Gracie?"

Kono could see the hint of fear and confusion in the big brown eyes, but also the absolute trust that she was safe as long as Kono was at her side.

Swimming back toward the surfboards that were drifting on the waves a few feet away, Kono tried to raise her head above the water to see where that madman had gone. Only seconds later the engine noise approached again and Kono saw the jet-ski drawing nearer and nearer. Somehow she knew that this time the driver wouldn't veer away, he didn't want to play anymore.

"Listen, Grace," she said urgently, turning around so she could face the little girl. "We need to dive. When I tell you, take a deep breath, as deep as you can, and then hold your breath. And don't let go of my hand, no matter what happens, okay?"

"Okay," Grace whispered, the fear in her eyes much more prominent with every passing second.

Hoping that someone on the beach had already noticed their predicament, Kono returned her focus back to the rapidly approaching jet-ski. Intensifying her grip around Grace's hand, she waited another moment before she shouted, "Now!"

Each of them taking a deep breath, Kono and Grace disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean. The jet-ski raced over the exact position where only a heartbeat ago both of their heads had been.

* * *

Danny chased through the narrow alley, breathing heavily, he stepped up a gear as he caught a glimpse of green at the far end corner, the wounds on his arm and his head throbbing painfully in time with his steps.

As expected, the bunch of teenagers dispersed as soon as Steve and Danny left the car, rushing away on their multicolored rollerblades in every imaginable direction. Not caring about all the other kids, the two men concentrated on the Hawaiian boy Steve had identified earlier, the lime-green helmet fortunately worked like a beacon in the night.

Coming round the corner at the end of the alley, Danny skidded to a halt, frowning when he found himself in front of a huge construction site which was surrounded by a head-high wooden fence, covered with graffiti and bills. His frown deepened when he spun around, looking for the teenage boy. The only escape route seemed to be a very small passage between the fence and the wall of the neighboring building.

Lacking any other ideas, Williams shrugged his shoulders, cursing noisily when he squeezed through the gap into another narrow alley. There was no movement, not the slightest flash of the lime-green helmet, so Danny resumed a light jog, carefully looking left and right in every driveway he passed, but the boy seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.

Danny squinted against his pounding headache. Turning around the next corner, he saw Steve at the entrance to the construction site, talking insistently to a girl with yellow rollerblades, her helmet the same color as her shoes, but printed with little pink hibiscus flowers. Her long blond hair was braided, the plait almost came down to her waist, bobbing up and down with every movement of her head.

Nearing his partner, Danny suddenly saw a flash of green out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head just in time to see the boy they were looking for disappear between two buildings.

"Steve," he shouted, turning on his heels to take up the chase. "This way!"

"I'll try to cut him off," Danny barely heard McGarrett's reply before he once more rushed through another one of those damn alleyways.

But rollerblades versus pedestrian was far from a fair fight and five minutes later Danny stopped in his fruitless pursuit, sweat dripping from his face, his head and his arm pounding like hell. On slightly wobbling feet he slowly walked on until he finally saw Steve in the distance, angrily pacing up and down in front of the wooden fence that surrounded the construction site.

"Tell me you had better luck," Steve called out, coming to a halt when he noticed Danny drawing near.

Spreading his arms, Danny gloomily shook his head, "Sorry, he was… LOOK OUT!"

Danny's warning cry came a split second too late, Steve was just about to turn around when for the second time in less than a week, the Hawaiian boy with the lime-green rollerblades tackled him at full speed. With a sickening thud Steve's body crashed into the wooden fence, the boards shattered from the impact and Danny could do nothing other than watch helplessly as his partner tumbled headlong into the construction pit.

Swallowing the curse he had on the tip of his tongue, Williams turned his gaze from the hole in the fence to the teenage boy, who had come to a skidding halt, rocking backwards and forwards on his rollerblades as he returned Danny's look, a smug smile spreading across his face.

"Hey, you, stop right there!" Danny shouted, trying to ignore the painful throbbing in his head. His hand involuntarily went to the weapon on his belt as he started running toward the kid.

"I don't think so, pops," the boy replied insolently, pirouetting around as Danny drew nearer. Noticing Danny's hand hovering over his gun, the grin on the boy's face got even brighter as he mocked, "You're really gonna shoot an innocent child?" Giving Danny a one-finger salute, the boy whirled around one last time before he took to his heels.

Frowning about the insolence of the teenager, Danny glanced around until he found what he was looking for. There was no way he would ever draw his weapon on an unarmed thirteen-year-old, but he also had a few aces up his sleeve. Measuring up the distance, he concentrated for the length of a heartbeat, then he kicked a piece of wood from the construction site directly in the boy's way.

The kid had obviously a lot of experience in falling and rolling, he elegantly tumbled over, making it almost back upright before Danny reached him. But almost was not fast enough, the boy was still struggling to his feet when Danny was over him, twisting one arm behind his back to secure him to the ground.

"You may be a child, but you're certainly not innocent," Danny said through gritted teeth, fumbling a zip tie out of his pocket.

"Steve?" Danny yelled, throwing a concerned look toward the gaping hole in the fence while he handcuffed the struggling boy. "Steve? Hey, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"Hey, dude, stop screaming in my ear, that's police brutality," the teenager said, stifling a surprised cry when Danny yanked him to his feet and whirled him around so they were face to face.

"I'm telling this exactly one time, you little, rolling dumbass, and I expect that you to obey my orders, are we clear?" Danny asked testily, slapping the boy on the helmet to get his full concentration. Waiting for an affirmative nod, Danny continued, "I don't wanna hear one single word leaving your mouth, so just zip it!"

Not waiting for an answer, Williams dragged the slightly intimidated boy with him toward the broken fence.

"Steve?" he shouted once more, trying to peer past the splintered boards. "Steve? Hey, man, answer me. Everything alright down there?"

Just when the worry for his partner – and with that also his headache – peaked to a new level, Danny finally got an answer in the form of a pained groan, immediately followed by a muffled curse.

**(tbc)**


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, you probably really, really, REALLY gonna hate me by the end of this chapter...**  
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* * *

**Chapter 8:**

Danny knew that it was not fair to laugh at his partner in such a situation, but watching Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, highly decorated Navy SEAL and head of the Governor's special task force, crawl out of a construction pit, dripping wet and stinking like an entire sewage plant, was not a thing one got to see every day.

Reaching out to help Steve the last few steps out of the pit, Danny wrinkled his nose in disgust as he looked down at his hand which was covered in some sort of stinking, sticky slime – the same slimy liquid that smothered Steve almost from head to toe.

Taking a few steps backward to get away from the smell, Williams eyed his friend suspiciously, searching for any injuries he might have sustained from his crash through the wooden fence or from the subsequent tumble into the five-foot-deep pit full of sewage and garbage. His own headache, spreading from the wound on his left temple through his entire skull decreased distinctly when he found no visible damage and the strain of the last few minutes slowly dissipated.

"Are you alright? Anything hurt?" Danny asked, half amused and half concerned, as he noticed McGarrett's pinched expression and the way he clutched his right shoulder.

Steve spit out a gush of dirty water, clearing his throat and coughing a few times, before his eyes met Danny's. "Just my pride," he answered hoarsely, trying to wipe the worst of the dirt from his mouth, nose and eyes. "That's not half as disgusting as some of the things we had to endure during SEAL training."

Astonishingly enough, Steve didn't seem to be angry about his little swimming excursion, his posture radiated an almost stoical serenity, and Danny didn't dare to imagine all the crazy things Steve went through during his training.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Danny nodded toward Steve's right shoulder, commenting on the fact that Steve was unconsciously rotating the joint.

Giving his partner a brief glance, Steve replied, "Yeah, everything's alright, don't worry. Just bruised my shoulder when I crashed into the fence." Curiously looking around, he asked, "By the way, where is the boy? Did you let him get away?"

"Did I let him get away?" Raising his eyebrows, Danny cocked his head a little to one side. "No, Steven, I didn't let him get away." A smug grin spreading across his face, he pointed to his left, where the teenage boy sat on the floor, handcuffed to a pile of steel grid panels. "While you decided to take a header and go for a swim, I convinced our little Starlight Express friend that he would like nothing better than to cooperate with us."

"Good job," Steve said, trying to slap his partner on the shoulder while they walked toward the teenager, but already having noticed the devious expression on Steve's face, Danny dived away in a swift motion before Steve's hand made contact with his clothes.

"Oh no, no, no, you won't do that," Danny exclaimed, glaring at the other man. "Don't you dare touch me with those slimy fingers of yours. That's gross!"

"Come on, Danno, don't spoil all the fun," Steve answered with a huge grin, before a cough built up in his chest and he spat another mouthful of dirty fluid onto the asphalt. "Okay, maybe you're right, it is indeed a little bit disgusting."

Coming to a halt in front of the steel grid panels, Steve and Danny shared a brief look, communicating silently about the best way to address the boy. After almost a minute of silence the kid began to squirm slightly under their gazes, causing Danny to finally clear his throat. He slowly crouched down, his voice quiet and gentle when he said, "Okay kiddo, let's start with an easy question… What's your name?"

He was met with nothing but silence, the boy's brown eyes defiantly stared into Danny's blue ones. After a while of checking out each other, Danny finally shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, fine, don't tell us your name. Who cares anyway…" Danny sighed as he rose to his feet, throwing a short side glance at Steve. "But it would have been much nicer for you to talk to me, because now you have to deal with my crazy partner here, who has no frigging idea how to handle children."

The boy's glare traveled from Danny to Steve and back before he laughed out, "Hey dude, do you think I'm stupid, or what? I watch a lot of movies, ya know? You're the good cop and he's playing the bad cop, that's really funny. But I'm not scared of you."

"Oh, did you hear that? He's not scared of us," Danny grinned at Steve. "I think you need to try harder to play your part."

Now it was Steve's turn to crouch down with a friendly smile as he addressed the boy, "I think you should be scared, because what you said is not entirely correct." Pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Danny, he explained, "You're right about him, he's indeed the good cop, but I'm not a cop at all." The smile dropped from Steve's face as he added, "Or do you see my badge anywhere? No badge, no cop."

"There he's right," Danny chipped in his agreement.

"I'm not scared of you," the teenager repeated, but it already sounded a little bit less convinced.

"Let's start again from the beginning," Steve offered unperturbed. "What's your name?"

Once more the boy remained silent, his eyes darting nervously over the two men in front of him.

"Hm, still no answer? Do you want me to guess your name?" Steve asked, closely inspecting the boy for a moment, before he grinned brightly. "I think I'll just call you 'Kekoa' – how's that?"

The boy's jaw dropped, he stared at Steve wide-eyed, stunned about the fact that McGarrett guessed his name right. Seeing the kid's reaction, Danny frowned for a second, starting to chuckle as he remembered the blond girl Steve had talked to earlier and who obviously had revealed her friend's name.

"How… how do you know my name?" Kekoa stammered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, I do know a lot of things," Steve answered matter-of-factly. "I know for example that your foster parents won't be too happy about the fact that you're assaulting innocent people like me and stealing from them."

Danny snorted audibly at the word 'innocent' but neither Steve nor the boy seemed to take any notice of him. If possible Kekoa's eyes got even bigger, he fidgeted nervously on the asphalt, his lips slightly trembling.

"Please, don't tell them," he whispered, his gaze pleading as he looked from Steve to Danny. "Please, if they know… they… they'll send me back…" His voice trailed off as his gaze dropped to the ground.

Waiting another moment until Danny finally gave him a push, Steve loudly cleared his throat and said, "Okay, listen Kekoa, let's make a deal. You'll give me back my badge and you promise to behave yourself in the future, then you can go."

Kekoa raised his head, looking at Steve out of watery eyes, "I promise to behave… but…" He blinked a few times and snuffled before he continued, "But I can't give you back your badge."

"And why's that?" Danny chimed in curiously.

"Because I don't have it anymore," the teenager answered quickly. "There was this guy. He gave me fifty bucks if I'd steal your badge for him."

"A guy?" Steve's internal radar flared to attention, he shared a brief look with Danny as he asked, "What did he look like?"

Kekoa shrugged his shoulders, "Haole. His voice was very low and friendly, I thought he was probably a little dumb."

"Haole?" Danny asked with an irritated sigh. "Can you describe him perhaps a little closer?"

The boy obviously regained his composure, he smirked at the two men in front of him as he replied, "Well, he was a Haole, you all look the same."

"That's very funny," Williams replied, narrowing his eyes at the kid. "You're a real comedian, you know that?"

"Hey, Kekoa, that's enough now," Steve intervened with a stern voice, briefly squeezing the boys shoulder before he stood up. "You'll tell us how the guy looked like or our little deal is no longer valid, do you hear me?"

Staring at Steve for a second, pondering his options, Kekoa finally whispered defeated, "Okay."

"Good choice," McGarrett nodded approvingly. "You'll help draw a composite sketch of the man and you'll tell us anything else you remember about him and then you can go."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve noticed Danny's gesture to join him, together they stepped out of Kekoa's earshot.

"Okay Steven, first of all let me tell you that I was quite impressed with your knowledge about the boy," Danny said, ignoring the proud expression on his partner's face. "But knowing you and your amazing way with children, I think I do not want to imagine how you got all those information from the little girl."

"What are you talking about, me and my amazing way with children?" Steve asked, throwing Danny a wry look. "I'm good with Grace, or am I not?"

"Yeah, well, you may have your moments," Danny admitted, waving his hand in Steve's direction. "But what I actually wanted to say," he changed the subject in the blink of an eye. "You remember today's schedule, don't you? We have a meeting with the Governor in about an hour and I think you probably want to change before we go there. And you should hurry up, because I have quite a feeling that Denning will be more than pissed if we don't show up on time."

"Oh damn, the meeting," Steve exclaimed, a sheepish smile on his face. "I totally forgot about that."

"That's why you have me," Danny retorted dryly. Eyeballing Steve's appearance, he added, "I'll stay and wait for HPD to pick up rollerboy here, while you go home, take one of your insanely short Navy showers and change into another pair of your fancy cargo pants."

"But what about you? You'll be stuck here without a car," Steve objected, but suddenly his face lit up when he suggested with a smirk. "Perhaps you can borrow our little friend's rollerblades."

"Very funny, Steven. How much of that sewage did you actually swallow?" Danny wanted to know, rolling his eyes. "Perhaps it was contaminated with some sort of germs that mess up with your sense of humor."

Trying not to touch Steve's drying but still slimy and smelly clothes, Danny waved his arms to shoo his partner in the direction where they left Steve's truck. "I'm sure I can convince one of the nice HPD officers to give me a ride back to Gabby's. There I'll take the Camaro and pick you up asap. How's that?"

"Sounds great," McGarrett replied, setting off for his waiting car, his wet shoes squeaking with every step he made. "See you later, partner."

"You know what, Steve?" Danny called after him, not in the least trying to hide the sardonic grin that spread across his face. He waited until his friend turned around to face him before he added with a look at Steve's dirty clothes, "I'm so glad that you brought your own car today."

* * *

Kono powerfully kicked her legs, intending to dive as quickly as possible before the jet-ski reached them, dragging Grace further beneath the surface of the water.

Another kick sent them even deeper but then Kono felt something painfully collide with her leg, a piercing pain shooting through her right foot and calf. The force of the impact, together with the turbulence that the jet-ski created, violently whirled her body around. Feeling Grace's hand slip from her fingers she tightened her grip, pulling with all her strength until she was able to wrap her whole arm around the girl's waist.

One of the first things Kono learned when she started to surf was not to panic when a powerful wave tried to push her down and to hold her breath even when something unexpected happened while underwater. Keeping calm, even if she didn't know which direction was up or down, was vital and right now years of experience and training kicked in. Kono willed her body to relax, allowing herself to feel the flow of the water.

She knew that time was precious because Grace had no such experience, she was just a child, probably scared to death from the recent events and certainly not able to hold her breath as long as Kono. They had to return to the surface, Kono just hoping that either that lunatic jet-ski driver was gone or that they were close enough to the beach to obtain help – or preferably both.

Pushing against the resistance of the water, they slowly got nearer to the surface, every tiny movement sending a spike of pain through her right leg, all the way from the ankle up to her hip. The useless, injured leg slowing them down, Kono's lungs started to burn from the lack of oxygen and she knew that time was running out. Ignoring the excruciating pain, she tried to use both legs to accelerate their rise.

They had only a few more feet to cover, Kono could already see the light of the sun sparkling through the water, when she felt Grace struggling beneath her, her legs thrashing, her fingernails digging into Kono's palm – and then Kono's heart skipped a beat when the small body became limp in her clutch.

**(tbc)**

* * *

I admit that this is really an evil cliffhanger and I'd like to say that I'm sorry, but the truth is... I'm not ;-)  
I probably won't be able to post the next chapter before next Tuesday because I'm going on a short vacation to Switzerland - wish me fun and good weather :-)**  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Hi everyone,  
I'm just back from Switzerland and because I had such a great time I decided to post another chapter right now :-)  
Hope you enjoy...

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

Jumping out of the shower, a deep frown formed on Steve's forehead when he threw a look at his watch.

4 minutes and 11 seconds?

Steve puffed out a long breath, he really had got old and lazy, never before had he needed more than four minutes for a simple shower. Shoving that thought to the back of his mind, he gingerly picked up his dirty clothes, pondering for a moment, but then he quickly decided that they were far beyond redemption. Scrunching them up, he threw the pants and shirt into the shower, deciding he would dispose of them later.

Hurrying into his bedroom to find a new outfit, he grimaced because of the ugly taste in his mouth, brushing his teeth before he took the shower hadn't helped one iota to get rid of the aftertaste of the sewage.

Steve just slipped on a dark blue polo shirt when he heard the familiar sound of Danny's Camaro entering his driveway and only seconds later a loud honk. Deciding that Danny would have to wait for another moment, McGarrett rushed back to the bathroom, once more grabbing his toothbrush.

Five minutes later, Steve swiftly closed the front door behind him, approaching the silver sports car, his short hair still slightly moist, a pleasant, fresh taste in his mouth, and new, dry patches covering the almost healed wounds on his forearms.

Feeling a little worn out, Steve dropped heavily into the passenger's seat, only the blink of an eye later they were back on the road, speeding toward the Palace and their meeting with the Governor.

Danny briefly turned his head to the right, sniffing theatrically a few times before he said with an approving nod, "Now, that's a lot better, you almost smell human again." Accelerating the car, he took a look in the rearview mirror before he swiftly passed a yellow school bus, "We have twenty minutes until the meeting, we should make it just in time."

"Whoa," Steve exclaimed involuntarily, tightening his grip around the handhold, he threw Danny a weird look. "Next time you tell me to slow down, I'll remind you of your own driving style."

"Scared?" Danny asked grinningly. "You're not the only one who knows how to drive, Steven, and just for the record, let me tell you that I enjoy driving my own car immensely just for once."

"Enjoy it as long as you're able, Danno," McGarrett replied, as he snuggled deep into his seat, leaning his head against the headrest, "because next time, I'll be the one driving again."

Blinking sluggishly, Steve smiled slightly at the inevitable rant that followed his comment, but he just couldn't bring himself to listen properly. He was suddenly dead tired, Danny's words dripping off him, the familiar voice nothing more than a comforting background noise that covered him like a nice and cozy blanket. Dozily blinking a few more times, the cars and buildings outside only a blurry mass of colors, Steve finally allowed his eyes to close. His breathing rate slowed down, he could feel his heart bumping in his chest, strong and slow, the interval between two beats seemed to become longer and longer the more time passed.

An undefined amount of time later – to McGarrett it could have been seconds or hours – Danny's muffled voice reached his ears, barely able to penetrate his fuzzy mind. "Did you hear a single word I said?"

"Hmm?" Steve asked drowsily without bothering to open his eyes.

There was a short pause before Williams asked, half amused and half amazed, "Are you… are you sleeping?"

"… not sleeping," Steve mumbled after a while, feebly shaking his head, "…just resting my eyes."

"Yeah, whatever."

Somewhere deep in his clouded brain, Steve was sure that it was pure amusement he heard in Danny's words, but he was too damn tired to care. Danny's voice, the engine noise of the Camaro, the traffic noise from outside, all the sounds around him faded away, the only thing he perceived was the dull throb of his heart, beating in an almost painfully slow rhythm against his ribs.

McGarrett didn't know how much time had passed when he felt a hand squeezing his forearm. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty, time to wake up," Danny said, surprisingly gentle. "Or do you want me to tell the Governor that you prefer taking a nap to attending one of his boring meetings?"

Struggling to blink his eyes open, Steve rubbed his hands over his face, noticing astonished that his fingers were slightly trembling. Licking his dry lips, he swallowed once. "I'm coming," he replied hoarsely, placing his right hand on the handle to open the door, but obviously Danny had already left the driver's seat and walked round the car.

Danny opened the passenger's door, flashed his partner a lopsided grin before he made a low bow accompanied by an extravagant movement of his arms. "May I ask for the next dance?" he asked wryly, stretching out his hand to drag Steve out of the car.

Ignoring the other man's help with a scowling roll of his eyes, Steve took a deep breath, grabbing the top edge of the door as he climbed to his feet, but as soon as he stood up, the world started to spin around him. He squeezed his eyes shut against the fierce wave of dizziness that hit him, frantically trying to hang on to the Camaro.

The last thing he knew were his legs buckling and Danny's strong hands gripping his arms before for the second time that day everything went completely and utterly dark.

* * *

Kono's lungs were burning, her injured leg throbbing mercilessly, but all she really felt was Grace's limp body in her grasp. Everything else became meaningless, saving the little girl in her arms was Kono's first and foremost goal and she was desperate not to fail. One last frantic kick and she finally breached the water surface, feverishly looking around for help as she gulped in the much needed air.

She silently thanked all the Hawaiian Gods when she saw that they resurfaced not far away from the beach, where an agitated crowd waited, some of the people running into the water toward them. But the tiny spark of joy and hope died down immediately when Kono averted her eyes from the beach, looking down at the small dark-haired girl in her arms.

"Oh God, Grace?" Kono whispered distraught. "Gracie? Can you hear me?"

Grace's slender body hang limply in Kono's arms, the lids were closed over her big brown eyes, her lips slightly blue, her mouth open just a tiny gap. Treading water to keep them both afloat, Kono gingerly stroked away the wet hair that plastered to Grace's pale face, then she desperately kicked out, using the throbbing pain that shot through her right leg to boost her waning strength, swimming back to the shore as fast as she could.

While they slowly drew nearer to the beach, Kono tried to get any reaction from Grace, waking her up, bringing her back to consciousness, whispering meaningless nonsense, the words soothing herself at least as much as her little charge. She kept telling herself over and over again that everything would be alright, only a few more moments and they'd reach safe land. The young woman didn't allow herself to think beyond that point, she didn't dare imagine any other outcome, Grace would be alright, nothing else was acceptable.

A few more kicks and finally Kono felt sand under her feet, she tried to stand but despite the reduced weight of the water, she wasn't able to remain upright when her injured leg gave out and refused to cooperate. She would have dropped back into the waves, if strong hands had not held her upright, and only reluctantly she allowed someone else to take Grace's body from her clasp. Gasping for air, she supported herself heavily on the offered arm. Without a single look at their saviors she hobbled out of the water, her gaze never leaving Grace's limp form.

The beach was crowded with people, Kono noticing fuzzily how three or four adults tried to keep the camp kids away from the scene. A gap formed when some of the people stepped back, creating just enough space to gently place the unresponsive little girl onto the sand.

With trembling hands Kono wiped the water from her face, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. Someone talked to her, she heard the words but she wasn't able to grasp their meaning. Blood rushed in her ears, Kono barely felt the pain spreading from her leg, and her whole body was numb as she bonelessly slumped down. She swallowed convulsively against the sobs that built in her chest, her fingers unconsciously digging into the warm sand.

Looking over at Danny's little daughter and at the young couple kneeling next to the girl's head and torso, Kono squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears that were burning behind her lids when she saw the young woman bend forward in order to perform the lifesaving rescue breathing.

* * *

A series of slaps on his right cheek brought Steve back to reality, he startled awake with a hoarse moan, his heart frantically bumping in his chest. Blinking into the bright blue sky, he furrowed his brow, for the moment absolutely clueless about why he was lying on the heated pavement directly next to Danny's car, his legs propped up in shock position on the passenger's seat.

"You back with me?"

Danny's voice penetrated his confused mind, sluggishly looking around Steve finally found his partner, crouching next to him, a concerned expression coloring his features. Clearing his throat, McGarrett swallowed once, raising his right arm to scrub his hand over his face as he nodded slightly.

"What happened?" Steve slurred, trying to sit up, but he was immediately and effortlessly pushed back down, Danny's hands resolutely holding him down.

"You tell me! I just asked you for a dance, but you decided you'd rather kiss the ground beneath my feet."

The cryptic answer was too much for Steve's still fuzzy thoughts, the wrinkles on his forehead deepened as he blinked bewilderedly and all he could manage was a rather ineloquent, "Huh?"

Danny sighed wearily, his voice held a mixture of anger and worry when he spoke again, "I have no idea what happened, Steve. From one second to the other you just passed out on me." His gaze met Steve's, searching for any hint of what was wrong with his friend.

Covering his eyes with his right forearm, Steve contemplated Danny's words and without really thinking he spluttered out, "Again?"

Squeezing shut his eyes, he bit back a groan, _Damn, had he really said that?_ He blamed his oxygen-deprived brain for this unnecessary remark, clinging to the tiny chance that his partner might perhaps have missed it.

But no such luck, soon enough Steve felt Danny tugging his arm away from his face, bluntly asking in typical Danny manner, "Again? Steve, what the hell are you talking about? Did that happen before?"

Steve opened his eyes to mere slits, squinting at his partner. "Uhm…" he said sheepishly, avoiding to look Danny straight into the eye, "maybe once?"

"Steven!" Williams growled, not in the slightest being fooled by Steve's lame attempt to conceal the truth.

"Okay, okay," McGarrett admitted grumpily, finally returning Danny's look. "Twice."

Sucking on his lower lip, Danny scrutinized Steve closely, obviously debating on what to say and after a long moment of silence he simply asked, "When?"

That uncharacteristic short sentence told Steve that right now the other man was clearly not in the mood to mess with, so he decided it would be safer to give him an honest answer, "This morning and yesterday morning." Referring to the fact that one of Danny's hands was still planted on his shoulder, he added cautiously, "Am I allowed to sit up now? I'm good…"

Glaring at Steve for another second, Danny withdrew his hand, waving it through the air as he flopped himself backward until he sat on the ground, leaning against the Camaro, seeking the little bit of shade the car provided. "Sure, go ahead, do whatever you deem to be adequate," he sighed tiredly, resting his elbows on his bended knees.

Scrubbing both of his hands over his face, Steve slowly struggled to sit up straight, turning around so that he also was able to rest his back against the car. Predicting Steve's intention, Williams willingly moved over a little bit until the two friends sat side by side, Steve mirroring Danny's pose as he also pulled up his knees.

After a while of silent brooding, McGarrett cautiously looked at his partner who was breathing out a long sigh, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, everything alright?" Steve asked quietly, slightly nudging his elbow against Danny's side.

Danny turned his head, gazing at his partner as if to judge if Steve was still in his right mind. "You're asking me if everything alright? How the hell would I know if everything's alright? I'm not the one who face planted for the third time in two days." Locking eyes with Steve, Danny unconsciously rubbed his right hand over his left bicep, covering the area where the bullet had grazed him, "Why didn't you tell that you weren't feeling good?"

"Perhaps because I had something else on my mind?" Steve explained himself, his gaze flickered to Danny's arm, "Or did you forget that you were shot this morning?"

"No Steven, I didn't forget that. My arm's hurting like a bitch, and it was clearly not helping that I had to catch you earlier," Danny replied testily. After a moment of silence he added with a wry smile, "Honestly, man, I think you weigh at least a ton."

"A ton?" Steve repeated, the corners of his mouth slightly twitching.

"At least," Danny confirmed with a resolute nod.

The awkward tension between the two men was finally broken, they grinned at each other for a minute before Steve asked, nodding toward the wound on Danny's temple, "How's your head?"

"Hurts," Danny replied, immediately throwing the question back at Steve. "Yours?"

"Much the same," Steve said. "How about I buy a round of painkillers?"

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely in," Danny agreed, preparing himself to get up. "Okay, babe, come on, let's go."

Suddenly remembering the reason for their hurried trip to the Palace, McGarrett exclaimed, "Hey, wait. What about our meeting with the Governor? Did we miss it?"

Grabbing Steve's wrist to throw a look at his watch, Danny replied, "Well, it started exactly twelve minutes and thirty-five seconds ago." Climbing to his feet, Williams stretched out a hand to help Steve up. "And I think for once I'll do what you always ask me to do. I'll shut up and let you, my friend, explain our delay."

They left the Camaro behind, walking toward the entrance of the building when Danny's cell phone rang. After a brief glance at the display he quickly passed it to Steve, a diabolic smirk on his lips, "Speaking of the devil… it's for you."

The pained expression that had appeared on Steve's face at the very thought of apologizing to the Governor vanished in the blink of an eye when his own phone started to buzz. Shoving Danny's cell back in his partner's hand, he swiftly fished his phone out of his pocket, without looking at the caller's ID he hit the answer button and pressed the device to his ear.

"McGarrett," he answered gleefully, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the other man. "Oh Max, it's you. What you got for me?"

"No, no, no, dammit Steve," Williams growled, carrying his still ringing phone as if it was ready to explode any moment. "I hate you, I hate you so much!"

Danny's thumb hovered over the display for another second, before he took a deep breath and took the call with faked self-confidence, "Yes, Governor?"

Covering the speaker with his left hand while he listened to Denning's answer, Danny glared at Steve, murmuring under his breath, "Steven J. McGarrett, you will so pay for that!"

**(tbc)**


	10. Chapter 10

So, at least Danny knows now that something is wrong with Steve...  
Hope you enjoy the next chapter!**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

Danny still couldn't believe his luck when he and Steve headed toward Max Bergman's premises barely fifteen minutes later. The conversation with the Governor had been far from being as unpleasant as he'd thought, because unbeknownst to Steve and Danny the scheduled meeting luckily had been cancelled.

Feeling the aches in his head and arm slowly dissolve into thin air when the painkillers that he and Steve shared finally took effect, Danny frowned when he recapitulated what Governor Denning had told him on the phone.

Earlier that day a young woman had called HPD, shyly demanding to speak to any member of Five-0, but not to Commander McGarrett, and since Danny wasn't available at that time, she somehow was transferred to the Governor's office. Her name was Jenny Gordon, she was a waitress in Wailuku and she said she had information about the four dead police officers on Maui, but she was either too anxious or too confused to give further details over the phone. The Governor's assistant who talked to her stated that she sounded scared and that she insisted vehemently on speaking to Five-0, but at the same time strictly refused to talk to McGarrett.

Jenny Gordon's phone call wasn't perhaps the most promising lead, but since the investigation on the deaths of the four MPD officers had stalled, Governor Denning had decided that Danny and Steve should fly to Maui, talking to the young woman in person. They were supposed to find out what she knew and why she was so adamant about avoiding the leader of Five-0.

Danny had been thunderstruck by Denning's sympathetic conclusion of the conversation when the Governor had said, "Detective Williams, I heard what happened this morning. It's good to know that you emerged relatively unscathed." Before Danny could give an answer or express his gratitude for the Governor's concern, Denning had ended the call, leaving Danny a bit open-mouthed, shaking his head as he stared at the silent phone in his hand.

"Hey Max… Charlie," Steve's voice pulled Williams out of his reverie, he hadn't noticed that they had already reached the morgue. He looked up to greet Dr. Bergman, only mildly surprised to also find Charlie Fong by his side. The coroner and the laboratory technician often worked hand in hand and Charlie's presence saved Steve and Danny a trip over to the lab.

"What you got for us?" Danny asked, looking at the two men in front of him as he repeated the words Steve had used earlier on the phone.

Charlie gestured toward Max, moving a small step back as he gave the coroner the advantage of speaking first.

Making a small bow in response, Max adjusted his glasses as he started his explanations, "I just finished the autopsy. Let me tell you about the recent case, the shooting from earlier today." A short nod from Bergman toward Danny told Steve that the news of his partner being involved in a shoot-out had obviously spread around HPD rapidly.

Turning toward the examination table, Max continued, "As you probably know the victim's name was Andrew Creek…"

But before he could finish the sentence he was disturbed by Danny's disgruntled voice, "Excuse me? The victim's name? He's certainly not a victim, he's the guy who nearly killed me! So if anyone is a victim here that might be me."

Ignoring Danny's interjection, Max turned toward the examination table, partly removing the sheet that covered the body that was lying there, revealing the corpse of Andrew Creek, the man who had shot at Danny only a few hours ago. "The cause of death was without any doubt…"

Interrupting his speech, Max looked up in surprise when he heard the three people around him simultaneously breathe in strangled gasps.

Recoiling at the sight of the body, Danny averted his eyes, grimacing as he waved his hand toward the examination table. "Whoa, is it really necessary that we have a look at this?" he asked, expressing exactly what anyone else in the room was thinking.

Noticing the same expression of disgust on his visitors' faces, Max replied unaffectedly, "Yes, I admit that the sight is not a pleasant one."

"Not a pleasant one?" Williams repeated, shaking his head in disbelief as he stared at Bergman. "Max, that guy misses half of his face, don't you think that 'not a pleasant one' might be a slight understatement?"

"I agree with Danny, that's really a bit disgusting," Steve said grimacing, pointing at the sheet that still covered most of the corpse. "I think we've seen enough, Max."

The surprised expression still on his face, Max finally relented, covering up the disturbing sight as he replied slightly disappointed, "Oh, okay, just as you wish."

Looking almost tenderly at the now hidden body, the coroner remained silent for almost a full minute until Steve noticeably cleared his throat, asking loudly, "Max?"

Max whirled around, seeming to be slightly taken aback by the presence of the other three men in the room.

"I think you wanted to tell us about the cause of death," Danny reminded him, torn between impatience and amusement about Bergman's behavior.

"Oh, yes, of course," Max said, once more arranging his glasses on his nose. "The cause of death was without any doubt a shot to the head," he specified his findings. "The bullet that killed him matches the one that was found in the wall of Dr. Asano's bedroom."

"And he really killed himself?" Steve asked impatiently. "No signs of external forces?"

"The fact that the weapon was still in his hand, the traces of gunpowder on the skin together with the angle of entry of the bullet are enough evidence to assume a suicide," Max answered with a little nod of his head. "So, yes, I'm absolutely positive that he killed himself."

"Okay, that still makes zero sense," Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know that guy, I have absolutely no idea why he would shoot at me – or Gabby." Looking at Steve, he added, "All we know, he isn't a hired killer either. So why would he do something like that? And why kill himself afterwards?"

"I don't know, Danny. But we'll find out, okay?" McGarrett replied, locking eyes with Danny for a moment before he turned toward Charlie. "What about the shards of glass that were found in Creek's apartment?"

"All I can tell so far is that they belonged to a small vial, normally used for injectables or other drugs," Charlie explained. "Analysis of the contents as well as the blood work is still pending. Unfortunately I don't expect any results before tomorrow morning," Fong said. Noticing the lines of disappointment on both Steve's and Danny's faces, he quickly added, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Danny stopped him with a wave of his hand, after all it wasn't Charlie's fault that they had no clue about what was going on.

"However, I can tell you some pretty interesting things about the other ongoing case, the four dead police officers," Charlie said. Not waiting for any response, he continued excitedly, "The results of the blood samples were quite unusual. All four samples held equal levels of an unknown substance, something I've never seen before. I think this substance was probably used as some kind of carrier."

"Carrier?" Steve asked astonished. "A carrier for what?"

"Well, probably for some kind of drugs," Charlie answered. "The composition of the carrier is something you won't find in any textbook, there's nothing natural about this substance, it's definitely artificial."

Ignoring the somewhat lost expression on the faces of his audience, Charlie continued, "I found no traces of an actual drug, just the synthetic carrier, but whatever this drug was, it was messing up with the balance of serotonin and dopamine."

"Serotonin and dopamine?" Danny repeated, furrowing his brow as he rummaged through his brain; he was sure that he heard of these two hormones before. "Isn't dopamine known as the 'happiness hormone'?" he finally asked, the question earned him a surprised look from his partner.

"Very good, Detective," Charlie praised with an approving nod of his head. "Dopamine intensifies emotions, whereas a lack of dopamine leads to depression," Fong stated, looking from Danny to Steve and back to see if they were following his explanations. "Serotonin is a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness, however an increased level causes agitation and hallucinations, while a decreased level leads to angst and impulsive aggression."

Waiting for the two men to process his words, Charlie fell silent, letting Steve and Danny think about his explanations.

"So, that means that the four officers consumed some unknown synthetic drug which made them so aggressive that they killed each other?" Danny asked incredulously.

"They either consumed the drug or it was administered," Steve pointed out.

"I'm still busy analyzing that carrier substance, but at the moment I'm afraid there's nothing more I can tell you. As far as I know the substance could have been administered in many possible ways," Charlie elaborated. "I'm not sure if it was administered via the bloodstream, via skin or mucosa contact or if the victims ingested or inhaled the substance."

"I examined the four bodies closely," Max stepped in when Fong finished his explanations. "I searched them meticulously for injection marks, but I found nothing. I also checked the places where someone could possibly conceal an injection, like the hairline, the navel, the interdigital spaces and so on."

Max paused to look at the three other men in the room before he continued, "I found nothing at all and even if there's still a slight chance that I missed something, I'm ninety-nine per cent positive that the drug was not administered via injection."

"Okay, that leaves us only about a million other possibilities," Danny remarked sarcastically. "How can we rule them out?"

"Unfortunately there's no way to rule them out any further at the moment," Charlie said bleakly. "As I said before, I'm still busy analyzing that substance, but I hope to finish my work by tomorrow morning." Charlie's voice trailed off, only the big clock at the wall was ticking unperturbedly, the sound reverberated loudly through the silence that filled the room.

"Okay, I think we're stuck at the moment," Steve finally said, throwing a quick glance at his watch before he briefly nodded toward the two men. "Max, Charlie, thank you for all the information, we'll check on your results tomorrow morning." Waving at his partner, he added, "Come on, Danno, we have a flight to catch."

Turning around to head for the exit McGarrett was stopped short when Danny grabbed his arm to prevent him from leaving, "Whoa, sailor, not so fast."

"Okay, now that we're all gathered in this lovely place, I have one more favor to ask for," Williams said cheerfully as he spread his arms, completely ignoring the inquiring scowl on Steve's face. "Max, I'm sure you can find a clean needle somewhere, I need you to draw some blood," he addressed the coroner, sighing slightly when three confused pairs of eyes turned toward him.

"Why do you want Max to take a blood sample from you?" Steve asked irritated, frowning when he saw Danny roll his eyes.

"Not from me, you goofball," Danny replied swiftly. "I need a blood test from you, because regarding your recent passion for keeling over, I daresay something's obviously not normal with you." Swirling his hands through the air, he continued. "Not that this was ever the case, I mean, you're never normal, but at the moment something is more not normal than normally."

Pleased with his explanation, Danny dropped his arms, stuffing both hands in his pockets as he watched the frown on Steve's face quickly turning into a full-blown aneurysm face. But Steve was obviously not the only one who had trouble understanding the meaning of Danny's words, because Charlie grinned uneasily, taking a step back to give the two partners enough space to deal with whatever was going on. Only Max seemed to be the only person in the room who effortlessly was able to follow Danny's train of thoughts and before Steve knew what happened, Bergman turned around, producing a syringe and a needle out of the drawer cabinet behind him.

"At your service," Max said with one of his trademark little bows, swiftly slipping on a pair of gloves before he tore open the sterile wrapping of the needle. "Would you please sit down?" he asked Steve, pointing at a metallic stool right behind the Commander.

Staring at the tools in Bergman's hands for a long moment, Steve finally shook his head as he said firmly, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm afraid I have to refuse. I won't sit down and I definitely don't need a blood test." He whirled around to leave the morgue, only to find himself face to face with his partner who was effectively blocking the passage to the exit. Looking down into the smaller man's eyes, Steve noticed that all playfulness had left Danny's face, replaced with a stern and determined expression.

"It's either a blood sample here with these two nice gentlemen or a trip to the hospital," Williams said, folding his arms in front of his chest as he glared at his friend. "It's your choice, Steven. And believe me, I have absolutely no problem leaving you in the care of a doctor while I do the trip to Maui on my own."

"I don't need a stupid blood test," Steve repeated through gritted teeth, trying to pass Danny without manhandling him. "I'm good."

"Humor me!" Danny growled, pushing Steve backward onto the chair, a bit astonished about how easy it had been to accomplish that task. His hand firmly placed on Steve's shoulder to prevent him from standing up, Danny soon felt how the last bit of resistance vanished when Steve reluctantly relaxed under his grip. After all, Danny was probably right, passing out twice a day was definitely not normal, and a little blood test would surely do no harm.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of needles," Danny said, the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement as looked down at his partner.

"Of course I'm not afraid of needles, Daniel," McGarrett replied, stifling a sigh as he half-heartedly shoved away Danny's hand.

"So?" Danny asked grinning, spreading his arms. "Then what's the problem?"

"No problem," Steve said with another sigh, completely accepting his defeat as he stretched out his left arm toward Max. "Happy now?" he asked grumpily with a side glance at Danny who stepped back to grant Max better access.

Danny curiously watched how Bergman cleaned the injection site with an antiseptic, smirking when he noticed that Steve avoided looking down, instead keeping his eyes glued to the opposite wall. "Do you want me to hold your hand?" Williams asked cheerfully, the question earned him an irritated snort from his partner, but the sound soon changed into a pained groan when Max inserted the needle in search for a vein.

"Hey, careful, Max," Danny said, the concern in his voice only partially faked. "I preferably need him back in one piece."

"Sorry," Bergman replied, pressing a piece of gauze onto the puncture site as he pulled the needle out of the crook of Steve's arm only a few moments later, "but most of my customers don't complain."

* * *

The trip from the morgue to the small airfield just outside Honolulu was uncharacteristically silent, Steve and Danny dwelling on their thoughts, pondering over the information they had received from Bergman and Fong.

"What do you think?" Steve finally asked as he pulled the Camaro into an empty parking space, killing the engine as he looked to the right to face his partner.

"I don't know," Danny said with a shrug of his shoulders, sucking his lower lip as he stared out the windscreen over at the small black helicopter that sat in front of a small hangar at the end of the airstrip. As promised, Governor Denning had arranged the aircraft that would take them to Maui, waiting fully fueled, ready for them to take off. "Something feels not right," Williams admitted, turning his head to return the look. "I have the feeling I should know what's going on, but I just can't grasp it."

Steve breathed out a long sigh, rubbing his right hand over his mouth and chin as he replied, "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Same feeling here."

Looking at each other for a moment, Danny finally nodded toward the helicopter, "Come on, let's go. I want to make it to Maui and back before it gets dark."

After getting through with the necessary paperwork inside a small, junky office, the two friends headed for the aircraft, without hesitation Steve crawled into the pilot's seat, swiftly reaching for the headphones even before he was fully seated.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Almost dropping the headphones at the annoyed sound of Danny's voice, McGarrett turned his head, surprised to find his partner standing in the open door, impatiently gesturing him to get out of the helicopter.

"Get out of there, right now," Danny demanded before Steve could even think of anything to say. "No way you'll handle that thing. You already fainted twice today, do you really think I'll let you fly? I don't want to have you pass out in the cockpit while you're flying the helicopter, Steven. Been there, done that! And I can tell you that wasn't a fun ride. So, I'm telling you one last time, get your lazy ass out of the pilot's seat or…"

Suddenly Danny interrupted himself, staring at Steve as his voice trailed off, his eyes wide with recognition and horror as he remembered their fateful helicopter trip almost a year ago and the case they had been working on at that time.

Steve shook his head in confusion as he saw the look on Danny's face. "What's wrong? Why do you…" But only a second later he also fell silent, Danny noticed the exact moment when the pieces in Steve's mind clicked in place. McGarrett's chin dropped as he returned Danny's glance, asking hesitantly, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Well, I don't know what you're thinking, babe, but I can tell you what I'm thinking," Danny answered, slowly nodding his head. "I think that we know someone who knows a lot about synthetic drugs, don't we?"

Swallowing against the lump that formed in his throat, Steve replied hoarsely, "Paul Baines?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Williams confirmed, furrowing his brow when his cell phone chirped in his pocket.

McGarrett noticed that the frown on Danny's forehead deepened the longer he stared at the message on the screen. Narrowing his eyes, Danny looked up, catching Steve's gaze as he said, "That's a message from HPD, they sent the composite sketch that your little rollerblades friend helped draw…"

Never taking his eyes from Steve's face, Danny slowly raised his hand as his voice trailed off, turning the phone so that his partner was able to throw a look at the display. Steve's eyes widened when he recognized the man on the picture, the man that apparently ordered a teenage boy to steal a simple police badge. His head shot up, he gaped at Danny who silently returned the look.

Without uttering a word they stared at each other before they both exclaimed with one voice, "Baines!"

Steve's mouth suddenly became dry, an uneasy feeling settled down in his stomach as he once more looked at the picture on Danny's phone. What for heaven's sake was going on here? Could it really be possible that his missing badge was somehow linked to the case of the four dead police officers on Maui?

**(tbc)**

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Did you get my little Moonlight reference? I think Max and Guillermo would make great pals ;-)


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much for all your nice reviews :-)  
Are you ready for a little bit of island-hopping? First we'll go to Maui...**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

Danny was still grinning brightly when he approached the young woman who was shyly waiting in front of one of the hangars, nervously taking a pull on her cigarette. About ten minutes ago he had smoothly landed the small aircraft at the Kahului Airport on Maui. Ever since Danny had successfully got his pilot's license a few months ago, he took every opportunity to handle the controls whenever he and Steve had to get into a helicopter. McGarrett still had a lot more experience when it came to flying but Danny obviously had a natural talent and with some occasional tips from the former SEAL, Williams was on his way to becoming an excellent pilot.

Only with some effort Danny managed to change his dopey grin into a genuine smile as he showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Danny Williams, Five-0," Danny introduced himself. "Are you Jenny Gordon?"

Since the woman had made it clear that she absolutely wouldn't talk to Commander McGarrett, Danny had convinced Steve to stay out of sight while he tried to figure out what the waitress knew about the case. Steve only reluctantly gave in when Danny swore solemnly that he would call out for his partner if anything unusual came up.

Inconspicuously eyeballing the young woman, Danny barely could hide the roll of his eyes when he thought back to Steve's concern. That girl in front of him was surely no threat. She was barely Danny's height, her short auburn hair curled around her head, her heavily painted eyes concealed her true age, but Danny assumed that she was not older than twenty at most. She fidgeted nervously, picking at her cigarette and tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear every few seconds. All in all she seemed to be really scared of something or someone.

"Yes, I'm Jenny," she finally whispered in reply, her eyes wide open as she had a close look at the badge that Danny had just clipped back on his belt. Her eyes flickered to meet Danny's gaze, immediately returning to an invisible spot on the ground, avoiding any further eye contact.

"Hi Jenny, nice to meet you," Williams replied in a friendly manner, keeping his voice low and reassuring to not scare her any further. Pointing at a nearby bench he added, "Why don't we sit down and you tell me what you know about the four dead police officers?"

Gently nudging her to sit down, Danny made himself comfortable next to her, waiting patiently for the girl to end her cigarette and find the courage to start speaking. He had the gut feeling that pressing her to talk would only cause her to retreat further into her cocoon, so Danny leaned back, watching her out of the corner of his eye and soon enough his patience was rewarded.

"May… may I see your badge again?" Jenny asked hesitantly after a few moments, knotting her fingers after she dropped the cigarette stub to the ground.

Danny blinked bewilderedly, that was the last thing he'd expected her to say, but nevertheless he nodded slightly, removing his badge and handing it to her, "Sure, here it is."

Hesitantly, Jenny took the badge, examining it closely before she said huskily, "It looks exactly the same as the one he showed me."

"Excuse me?" Danny asked confused. "I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about. Who showed you what?"

"The badge… he showed me his badge," the woman answered timidly. After a few seconds she raised her head, for the first time actually looking Danny in the eye, "He said his name was Commander McGarrett."

Danny's eyebrows shot up as he stared at her in disbelief. Clearing his throat, he replied slowly, "So, you're telling me that Commander McGarrett was here on Maui talking to you?"

Jenny nodded once, her gaze was back to the floor, her fingers nervously intertwined in her lap.

"And that was when exactly?" Danny asked, trying to find out what was going on. He briefly looked back to the helicopter where Steve sat in the pilot's seat, busy searching for information on the small tablet PC they brought with them.

Williams shook his head slightly, really doubting that his partner had been on Maui recently without telling him, but with Steve one could never be sure.

"It was Saturday afternoon, shortly after 3 o'clock," Jenny answered Danny's question, her voice trembling a little bit. "I remember exactly because my shift had just started."

Narrowing his eyes, Danny pensively sucked on his lower lip; there was definitely something wrong in the timeline. Steve's badge had been stolen Friday evening, no way he could have been on Maui one day later, showing said badge to the young waitress.

"How did you know it was Commander McGarrett who spoke to you?" Danny wanted to know, curiously eyeing the woman next to him.

"He told me his name," Jenny said, obviously surprised about that question. "And he showed me his badge."

Well, that seemed to be fair enough, if Danny thought about it. They always showed their badges and told their names without further photo ID to identify themselves. With enough self-confidence it would be easy to pose as a police officer – or the head of Five-0 – if you were just in possession of the appropriate badge.

Danny pondered for a moment on the situation; they knew that Paul Baines was the one behind the stealing of Steve's badge, and regarding the unknown substance Charlie Fong found in the blood samples there was every indication that Baines had a hand in the deaths of the four policemen.

"If I showed you some photos, would you be able to identify the man who spoke to you?" Williams asked, finding the only way to make sure whether Baines was involved or not.

"Yes, I think so," Jenny confirmed timidly.

"Okay, that's great, Jenny. We'll do this later," Danny replied with a friendly smile. "But first of all, tell me what McGarrett wanted from you."

* * *

Furrowing his brow, Steve closely watched the young woman from his place inside the helicopter. He was pretty sure that he'd never seen her before and also the name Jenny Gordon didn't ring a bell, he had absolutely no clue why she absolutely refused to talk to him.

Looking over at his partner who just was about to lead Jenny to a bench, inviting her to sit down, McGarrett sighed slightly, returning his attention back to the tablet PC in his lap. He definitely wasn't as good as Chin or Kono with all those nice pieces of equipment but he knew enough to find most of the things he was looking for and right now he was searching through all available police and Five-0 databases for all information about the two woman who used to team up with the four dead policemen.

Steve's eyes flickered back to the two people in front of the hangar while he waited for the files to download, every fiber of his body itched to jump out of the aircraft to join his partner, even if he knew that Danny was an excellent cop and more than capable of handling the situation on his own. A beeping told him that the download was finally complete, shaking his head to clear his mind, Steve tried to ban everything around him from his thoughts as he scrolled through the information on the screen.

The first file Steve opened was the accident report of the car crash that killed not only the policewoman on maternity leave but also her newborn baby. According to the report the story happened exactly as Danny told him earlier that day in the car. The horrible and tragic accident left a third victim, the drunken driver who caused the crash died on the way to the hospital. McGarrett was just about to close the file when he noticed something, frowning he swept his fingers over the display to take a closer look at the autopsy report.

The blood alcohol level of the driver was only slightly increased, certainly not to a level that would necessarily cause him to lose control over his vehicle. But what bothered Steve the most was the little unremarkable note at the end of the report, saying that the blood sample was contaminated with an unknown substance.

Steve felt his heart start beating faster when he read those two words. Unknown substance? What the hell was going on here? Was it really possible that this was the same 'unknown substance' that Charlie told them about only a few hours ago? Licking his dry lips, McGarrett feverishly scrolled through the report, but he found nothing else that gave any further explanation, obviously the lab technicians at that time didn't find it important enough to investigate.

Throwing a quick glance out the window Steve noticed that Danny had managed to make the young woman talk. He watched a few seconds how she nervously wrung her hands in her lap when she spoke before he looked back at his computer. Searching through the database he quickly found the name of the second woman that worked on the team of police officers. At first sight her file didn't show any abnormalities, just like Danny said, she had moved to the mainland almost a year ago, leaving the police, the woman had married a business man from Texas, settling down with him in Fort Worth. But the last item on the file made Steve's blood run cold, it was a missing person report filled in from Honolulu Police Department, the former police officer and her husband disappeared without a trace on a holiday back to Hawaii while on a hiking tour. HPD called off the search after almost a week, pronouncing the two people dead when all that was found were the abandoned tent, a backpack and a few other pieces of equipment belonging to the couple.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Steve activated some other files, finding it hard to believe that all these deaths should be nothing more than coincidence. Only a few clicks later a list popped up on the display, all operations the team of six police officers had worked on since its formation three and a half years ago. He wasn't completely sure what he was looking for, most of the cases told him nothing at all, but he just relied on his gut feeling that anything important would catch his eye.

And there it was, right at the end of the list, apparently the last mission before the two policewomen left the team.

Wide-eyed Steve looked at the date that screamed at him from the display, a date he wouldn't forget anytime soon, because what else would be to remembered if not the day one survived a helicopter crash. A year ago almost to the day, Steve and Danny had been on a helicopter ride to Molokai to interrogate Mrs. Kalili, who used to be Paul Baines' foster mother a long time ago. Baines had been accused of murdering two of his employees in cold blood, Five-0 as well as HPD had been looking for him for days without success. Unfortunately visiting the old lady on Molokai had not been the brightest idea, because Steve and Danny had run straight into a trap, ambushed by Baines and his accomplices.

McGarrett pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought back to that day, he didn't remember much of the flight back to Oahu, because he had sustained a gunshot wound to the arm which to top it all had nicked an artery. Passing out from the blood loss and leaving his partner – who at that time had no idea how to land a helicopter – the task to bring them down safely, was certainly nothing Steve was eager to experience again.

After staring at the screen for almost a full minute, Steve carelessly dumped the tablet PC onto the empty seat next to him. He leaned his head back against the head rest, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to put together all the pieces of information he had gathered in the last few moments.

Those six police officers from MDP – five of them dead, the sixth one missing and probably also dead – had been the ones who stormed Mrs. Kalili's house in the search for Baines after Steve and Danny had got into that ambush. At least one of them eventually was responsible for the death of the old lady who had opened fire on the policemen and unfortunately had been killed in the following shoot-out.

Pressing his palms against his closed eyes, Steve breathed out a long sigh before he tiredly scrubbed his hands across his face. He still didn't manage to put together all the pieces in the puzzle; it looked like Baines was taking revenge for the death of his foster mother, killing the police officers who had taken part in the raid that day. And Kekoa, or 'your little rollerblades friend' as Danny liked to call him, had without any doubt identified Paul Baines as the one who gave him the order to steal Steve's badge.

But how on earth did these two events fit together?

* * *

Despite the disturbing news he'd learned from Jenny Gordon, Danny couldn't help playing a little prank on his partner, yanking open the helicopter door, he grinned smugly when he saw McGarrett start in surprise. It wasn't often that Steve dropped his guard allowing Danny to sneak up on the former SEAL. He enjoyed these rare opportunities immensely but this time his grin quickly disappeared when he noticed the expression on Steve's face.

"What did you find?" Williams asked, leaning against the open door, holding his own news back for the moment. With growing unease he listened to what Steve told him about the two policewomen, the assumption that Paul Baines was involved in their deaths added to Danny's own findings.

After Steve had finished, both men kept silent for a moment before Danny said with a little sigh, "Okay, now it's my turn." Looking Steve in the eye, he pursed his lips, asking slowly, "Where were you Saturday afternoon?"

"Saturday afternoon?" Steve replied astonished, smiling wryly about the tone in Danny's voice. "Is this an interrogation, Detective?"

Danny rolled his eyes as he repeated, "Just tell me where you were, okay?"

"I was at home," McGarrett answered, the smile on his face gradually changed into a frown. "Why do you ask?"

"Because," Danny said, heaving a sigh, "Jenny told me that one Commander McGarrett visited her Saturday afternoon." Raising his hand to stop Steve from interrupting him, Danny continued, "And that's not all. Obviously he showed her his badge to identify himself… well, or rather your badge, to be precise."

Steve stared at his partner for a few seconds until he processed the meaning of Danny's words. "Baines has been here?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide in astonishment.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Danny said, slightly cocking his head as he pointed at the tablet PC on the seat next to Steve. "Would you just hand me your little toy? I'm going to show Jenny a photo of Baines."

Nodding a thank-you as he took the computer from Steve's hand, Danny continued warily, "But I'm pretty sure we're talking about Baines here, because more disturbing than your stolen badge is what our fake Commander asked her to do..." Danny's voice trailed off as he shoved his right hand into his pocket.

"And what would that be?" McGarrett asked, shifting his gaze to his partner's hand just in time to see Danny pull something out of his pocket.

Raising his right arm, Williams opened his hand, presenting a small item on his flat palm. He watched how Steve slowly dismounted the aircraft, the expression on the other man's face changing from confusion to bewilderment when he finally recognized the item – a small glass vial, wrapped in a black disposable glove to avoid any unwanted fingerprints, glistening faintly in the warm sunlight.

"He ordered her to put this into the drinks of four policemen," Danny explained while Steve carefully took the glove and the empty vial from his hand, anxious not to touch the glass directly. "Those four policemen who killed each other barely a few hours later."

Steve's head shot up, he looked at his partner, his eyes wide open, "Tell me, she didn't do it."

"Well, unfortunately, she did do it," Williams answered sadly, slightly shaking his head. "She's young and she was scared to death, I think Baines – if it really was Baines who visited her – was pretty intimidating. He told her some weird story about misuse of drugs and that he needed evidence to prove that the police officers were involved, or some crap like that." Danny changed his grip on the small tablet PC he was holding as he waved his hand through the air. "But at least we have the vial. Even if Jenny probably smeared most of the fingerprints, I hope Fong will be able to find something useful."

Raising the vial in front of his eyes, Steve gingerly shook the small the bottle, noticing a tiny rest of a clear liquid in it. "What was in there?"

"What was in there?" Danny puffed out, throwing Steve an exasperated look. "Do I look like a pharmacist to you? I have no idea what was in there, Steven. But if I had a guess, I'd say that Charlie will probably find the same unknown substance he found in the blood samples."

Nodding in agreement, Steve turned the glove inside out to enwrap the vial, carefully placing the piece of evidence onto the seat. He thought about everything they learned from Max and Charlie earlier that day, frowning deeply when he suddenly remembered their other ongoing case.

"Danny…" he said slowly, looking pensively at his partner.

"What?" Narrowing his eyes as he noticed Steve's expression, Danny asked suspiciously, "What's that look?"

"I just thought that this might not be the first vial we're talking about today," Steve replied, pointing at the small bundle on the seat behind him. "Remember what Charlie told us about the shards that were found in Andrew Creek's apartment?"

He fell silent, intently observing the flood of emotions that flushed across his partner's face, Danny's jaw dropped when the pieces finally clicked in place.

"Steve, what the hell is going on here?" he asked, his voice laced with hidden anger, but Steve could see a hint of fear in his friend's eyes. "Let's presume that the shards in Creek's apartment belonged to the same kind of vial – why… why would Baines drug one of Gabby's neighbors?"

"I really don't know, Danny," Steve said with an awkward shrug of his shoulders, immediately offering the only solution that sprang to his mind. "If it's really Baines who is behind all this, then I think he might be out for revenge."

"But why target Gabby? She has nothing to do with all this," Danny exclaimed, the agitated movement of his hands spoke volumes about his emotional condition.

"You know, I'm not sure if Gabby really was the target," Steve answered cautiously, throwing Danny a quick look as he tried to weigh the level of agitation his friend was in.

"Don't look at me like this, I'm not gonna freak out. Unfortunately I'm somewhat accustomed to having some crazy felons out there to kill me, even more so since I've met you." Grinning wryly, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued, "But what does freak me out is the fact that nobody knew I would be at Gabby's last night. For heaven's sake, Steve, even I didn't know that we'd spent the night there."

Looking up to meet Steve's gaze, the fear now much more prominent in his blue eyes, Danny asked quietly, "But what if Gabby was the target after all? What if she's still in danger?"

"Hey, everything will be alright, partner," Steve answered quickly, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as he went on, "I'll call Duke and make sure Gabby's under police protection twenty-four-seven, okay?" Looking at his watch, McGarrett said, "I'll send a black-and-white to the museum to pick her up, they will be there right before closing time."

Taking a deep breath, Danny nodded a silent thank-you. "I'll call her later and explain what's going on." Nodding toward Jenny Gordon who still waited nervously on the small bench in front of the hangar, Williams said, "I'll just show Jenny a photo of Baines, I wonder if she'll be able to identify him. And then let's fly back to Honolulu, the sooner we have Charlie examine the vial the better."

"Wait a second until I'm done calling HPD," Steve replied swiftly, searching through the contact list for Sergeant Lukela's number. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now. She's really scared, Steve," Danny said, holding Steve back by placing a hand on his arm. He threw a short glance at the young waitress who had just lit up another cigarette, nervously looking around while she waited for Danny's return. "Just give me another five minutes, okay? I'll give you a sign when I think she's ready to face another person."

Steve hesitated for a moment, he wanted nothing more than talk to the woman in person, but ultimately he trusted Danny's judgment, flicking his hand as he agreed, "I'll wait here. Call me when she's ready."

With a short slap on Steve's arm, Danny turned around and headed back to the bench, swiping his fingers over the display of the tablet PC in search of a photo of Paul Baines when Steve's phone rang.

"Hey Kono, what's up?" McGarrett asked cheerfully, shoving all the unpleasant findings of the last few hours to the back of his mind for a moment. "How are you and Gracie? Still enjoying your vacation?"

A smile appeared on Danny's face when he perceived his daughter's name, but he didn't turn around. Later there would be enough time to talk to her or at least hear some news from Kono about her, at the moment he just wanted to get the conversation with Jenny over and done with. He was only listening with half an ear to Steve's words while he finally found the mug shot of Baines he wanted to show Jenny. Danny had almost reached the young woman when he noticed that the blitheful tone of Steve's voice had suddenly changed.

Feeling a chill run down his spine and goose bumps spread up his arms, Danny slowly came to a halt, whirling around when he heard Steve's whispered, "Oh my God!"

Danny stared wide-eyed at the other man, his heart literally stopped and then restarted beating much too fast when he saw Steve's gaze flicker toward him and he took in his partner's chalk-white expression.

**(tbc)**

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Island-hopping... next stop Molokai? ;-)**  
**


	12. Chapter 12

Thank you so much for all those great reviews to the last chapter, I'm so glad you're still enjoying the story :-)  
Hope you like the next chapter, we're still on Maui, but now we'll finally learn about Gracie's well-being...

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**Chapter 12:**

"Oh my God!"

Steve's whispered words hung heavily in the air, pressing forcefully against Danny's mind. He felt the blood drain from his face when he noticed the horror in Steve's eyes. Danny's breathing quickened, his heart went a mile a minute, bumping painfully against his ribs.

Unconsciously Danny made a few tentative steps toward his partner, completely forgetting about Jenny Gordon, the young woman who was waiting nervously somewhere behind him.

"Where are you now?" Steve asked hoarsely, his gaze fixed on Danny, his right hand clasping the cell phone so tightly that his knuckles became white.

"Steve?" Danny's voice was barely a whisper.

Even if Steve hadn't mentioned Grace, Danny knew instantly that something had happened to his daughter, suddenly there was a humming in his ears that almost drowned out every other sound.

Clearing his throat, he asked once again, "Steve? What's wrong?"

Danny was now standing right in front of Steve, he felt cold sweat on his forehead but he didn't care to wipe it away. Looking down at his friend, Steve shook his head slightly as he rapidly spoke into his cell phone.

"Listen, Kono, we're on Maui at the moment, we can make it to Molokai in about 40 minutes. Is there a place nearby where we can land a helicopter?"

Listening concentrated to Kono's answer, McGarrett kept silent for a few seconds before he said curtly, "Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible."

Breathing raggedly, Danny watched Steve stowing away the phone in his pocket, raising a trembling hand he repeated his former question, "Steve, what's wrong?"

Locking eyes with his partner, Steve took a deep breath as he firmly grabbed the smaller man's arms.

"Danny, there was an accident, but Grace is fine now."

Tightening his grip, Steve involuntarily pinched the wound on Danny's left arm but the short grimace of pain was quickly replaced by an expression of pure horror and devastation.

"Listen to me, Danny! Grace is alright. Do you hear me? She's alright now!"

Feeling his knees become weak, Danny mirrored Steve's gestured, wrapping his hands around his partner's arms.

"What happened?" he gasped out, not caring at all that his voice was trembling.

"Kono and Grace were out on the water when they were run over by a jet-ski," Steve repeated the meager information Kono had given him earlier on the phone. Keeping a close eye on his friend, Steve continued slowly, "They had to dive to get out of the way…"

If possible, the shock in Danny's eyes even increased, letting go of Steve's arms he staggered a few steps backward until his back was against the side of the helicopter.

"Run over?" he asked hoarsely, his breathing much too fast as he looked pleadingly at Steve. "Oh God, Grace."

Seeing the minute tremors that rocked through Danny's body, Steve quickly drew near, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder, he squeezed tightly.

"You need to sit down?" he asked worriedly.

Slightly shaking his head, Danny threw Steve an anxious look as he rasped, "Just tell me that she's alright. Steve, please, tell me that Grace is alright."

"She is alright, Danny," Steve confirmed, giving Danny's shoulder another squeeze. "Kono swore that she's alright."

Pressing his lips together for a second, Steve inhaled deeply, telling Danny everything that he had learned from Kono. "Grace swallowed quite a bit of water and she was unconscious for one or two minutes…"

Hearing those words, Danny's whole body started to tremble more violently, the panic in his eyes was more than Steve could take.

"Listen, Danny, I promise she's alright now. Do you hear me?" Steve asked urgently, digging his fingers into Danny's shoulder to make sure he had his attention. "Kono said she was with her all the time. Grace was checked by a nurse on site and they took her to the hospital briefly, but everything's fine now, the doctor immediately released her. Everything's fine, Grace is alright, okay?"

Danny's eyes never left his partner's face and after what seemed to be an eternity Williams finally nodded slowly. He blinked a few times before he answered hesitantly, "Okay."

"You good?" Steve asked concerned after a moment, Danny's breathing still much too labored for his liking.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Danny managed in a whisper, leaning forward, he put his hands on his knees, trying to breathe deeply and slowly in and out. "Just give me a minute."

"Sure, take as long as you need," Steve said quietly. "I'm here."

Letting his hand rest on Danny's back to offer as much support as possible, Steve noticed surprised that his fingers were trembling slightly against the fabric of Danny's shirt. Raising his other hand, he firmly rubbed it across his mouth and chin as he heaved a deep sigh. He felt like someone had just pulled the rug from under his feet. He wasn't even related to Grace, but if her well-being affected him so much, Steve could only imagine how Danny must be feeling right now.

He closed his eyes for a second, thanking God or whoever might be responsible, that Danny's little girl was alright. Steve was sure that his partner would be better as soon as he was able to clasp Grace in his arms.

"Is… is everything alright? Do you need help?"

Steve winced when a female voice reached his ears, his eyes snapped open and he was astonished to find Jenny Gordon only a few steps away, fidgeting nervously with the tablet PC Danny must have dropped earlier. He had totally forgotten about the young woman. Pulling himself together he ran one hand through his hair, the other one still firmly attached to Danny's back.

"No, no, thanks," McGarrett replied, nodding toward his partner. "He'll be alright."

Noticing Jenny's gaze flickering between him and Danny, he finally remembered his good manners as he added belatedly, "Oh, I'm Com…"

"This is my partner Steve," Danny interrupted him, suddenly straightening himself to his full height. He threw Steve a warning glance, shaking his head ever so slightly, before he turned toward Jenny, gently taking the small computer from her hands.

Furrowing his brow, Steve needed a moment before realization hit him, introducing himself as Commander McGarrett to the girl probably wouldn't have been his smartest move. Nodding back at Danny to show him that he'd understood, he took a small step back, letting Danny talk to the young woman.

Danny was looking much better than a few minutes ago, he was breathing normally and his face had regained some color. Steve knew that his partner took his job very seriously and even if he wanted nothing more than be at his daughter's side right now, he felt committed to the ongoing case.

Searching through the files on the PC, Williams finally found what he was looking for, presenting Jenny a photo of Paul Baines. "Is this the man who visited you on Saturday?" he asked, already having his answer when he saw Jenny gasp.

"Yes, that's him," she confirmed faintly, her voice trembling slightly.

Looking at Danny out of her heavily painted eyes, she asked hesitantly, "He… he wasn't a real cop, was he?"

Holding her gaze for a short moment, Danny smiled sadly, shaking his head as he answered, "No, that man isn't a cop. And his name is not McGarrett."

Jenny tried to hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes, her lips twitched when she stated gloomily, "It's my fault that those policemen died. I… I shouldn't have done what he told me to do. I should have said no."

A single tear ran down her cheek as she repeated quietly, "It's all my fault."

Placing a hand on the girl's forearm, Danny shoved all his own sorrows to the back of his mind. "Listen to me, Jenny. It was not your fault that those officers died, okay? It was only this man's fault," Danny said, pointing at the picture of Baines. "He would most certainly have found another way if you'd refused to do what he wanted and we don't know what he'd have done to you if you'd said no."

Gently brushing away the tear from her cheek, Danny continued softly, "You came to us and told us what had happened, that was the best thing you could have done."

Waiting for a moment until he saw a hint of acceptance in her eyes, Danny asked quietly, "Will you be alright?"

Barely noticing Jenny's reply, Danny's thoughts were back to his daughter before the young waitress even finished her timid, "Yes, I think so."

Absently smiling a farewell to the woman, Danny exhaustedly stepped back, leaving it to Steve to escort Jenny the short way to her car.

Williams crawled onto the co-pilot's seat, for once not bothering about flying himself. Impatiently waiting for Steve's return, he closed his eyes, carefully massaging his forehead to get rid of the blooming headache. He could feel every single one of the stitches on his left temple, the dull pain spreading from the wound through his entire skull, spiking with every beat of his heart.

Breathing a sigh, he looked out the window, finally seeing his partner come back at a fast pace, tightly pressing his cell phone to his ear.

"I spoke to Duke, he promised me to personally have an eye on the protection for Gabby," Steve explained while he climbed in the pilot's seat next to Danny. "I also talked to Gabby, telling her the short version of what's going on."

Looking curiously at his friend, Steve added, "She asked me to tell you that she still owes you some pancakes."

"Thanks," Danny replied with a little smile on his face, deliberately ignoring Steve's inquiring expression. "I'll call her later."

He thought about Gabby, he couldn't believe that is was not even twelve hours ago when they teased about breakfast, when there were no shooters or synthetic drugs or jet-ski accidents.

"You okay?" Steve asked while adjusting his seatbelt and reaching for his headphones.

Danny nodded at him affirmation. "Sorry for earlier. But you know, when it comes to Gracie…"

"Hey, no need to apologize, man. Your reaction was totally comprehensible." Giving his partner a quick encouraging slap on the arm, Steve said, "Grace is alright, okay?"

"You already said that, "Danny replied with a weary sigh. "But I only believe what's right in front of my eyes, so I'll just be relieved when I see her for myself."

Squinting at the other man, Danny asked impatiently, "Can we please go now?"

"Yeah, sure, buckle up," McGarrett answered as he slipped on his headphones. Noticing the faint lines of pain on Danny's forehead he hesitated, repeating his former question, "You sure, you're okay?"

"Just a headache," Williams admitted, closing his seatbelt and grabbing for his own headphones. "You don't have by any chance some painkillers?"

"In fact I might have," Steve grinned, already busy searching through the many pockets of his ever-present cargo pants until he finally pulled out a small crumpled blister pack, proudly presenting it to his partner.

Suspiciously eying the battered pack, Danny raised his eyebrows as he asked, "Wow, how long has that been living inside your pocket? This looks like you not only dragged it a few times across Afghanistan but also through your entire SEAL training."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Danno," Steve retorted, waving the pills in front of Danny's face. "You want them or not?"

Snatching the item from Steve's hand, Danny didn't bother to answer, instead he popped two of the pills on his palm, staring at them for moment before he dry swallowed them.

"It'll be your fault when I die of food poisoning," he said matter-of-factly, but the mischievous sparkle in his eyes betrayed the sound of his voice. Flailing his arms through the air, he added, "And now bring me to my daughter."

**(tbc)**

* * *

Did you notice? No cliffhanger this time :-)**  
**


	13. Chapter 13

Okay, now let's see what Molokai has to offer...

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

About half an hour later Steve approached the coordinates Kono had given him on the phone, Danny was sure that these had been the longest thirty minutes of his entire life. He couldn't wait for Steve to land the small black helicopter on the harvested field right beside the holiday camp where Grace had spent the last few days.

During their approach Danny was already able to make out two people at the edge of the field, Grace's pink and Kono's turquoise tops shining brightly against the muddy brown soil. Danny's heart started to beat faster at the sight of his daughter and as soon as the aircraft touched the ground he yanked open the door.

Only a moment later he was finally able to wrap his arms around his little girl. Kneeling down, he hugged her tightly, breathing in her unique scent that always made his heart dance for joy. Having only eyes for his beloved Grace, asking her if she was alright over and over again, he didn't take any notice of his surroundings until he heard Steve's upset voice right next to and above him.

"Kono, you alright? What happened to your leg?"

By the time Danny looked up, he saw his two team members in a tight embrace. Struggling to his feet he tried to get a better look but Kono's slender body was completely concealed by Steve's larger frame. It wasn't until Steve released the young woman and took a step back that Danny saw the white bandage that covered Kono's right leg from her ankle all the way up to her knee and the single crutch that she held loosely by her side.

"I'm fine, Boss," Kono answered Steve's question, but her gaze was fixed on Danny as she hesitantly hobbled a step toward him.

The anguished look in her eyes made her look so much younger than she actually was and Danny couldn't help but pull her into a bear hug against his chest.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked gently when he felt her stiffen in his arms. "Are you hurting?"

Shaking her head, Kono buried her face in Danny's shoulder, whispering brokenly, "I'm sorry, Danny, I'm so very sorry."

Kono tried to wiggle herself free out of Danny's embrace but he tightened his grip until she reluctantly relaxed, whispering once more, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, kiddo, what are you sorry for?" Danny asked surprised, his voice low and calm. "I heard you were with Grace the whole time. You pulled her out of the water, didn't you?"

Releasing her from the hug, Danny wrapped his hands around Kono's arms, holding her at arm's length so that he had a good look at her face.

"Didn't you?" he repeated, shaking her slightly until she raised her eyes and returned his gaze. After a few seconds Kono finally nodded tentatively, which brought a knowing smile onto Danny's lips, but before he was able to say anything else, he felt Grace scramble in between them. With a last encouraging smile at Kono he let go of her arms and bent down to lift up his daughter. Shifting her a little bit in his arms so that she rested comfortably on his hip, he placed a kiss on Grace's forehead.

"What's the matter, Monkey?"

"Auntie Kono saved us both," Grace said, wrapping her arms around Danny's neck. "We had to dive, Danno. And when that jet boat came back…"

"Jet-ski, Monkey," Danny corrected her gently, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

He didn't seem to notice what she'd said, but Steve's head jerked up, his eyes narrowing as he shot Kono an inquiring look. Kono shook her head slightly, her gaze flickering to Grace and back to Steve and she mouthed silently, "Later."

Steve nodded, he'd understood that she didn't want to speak in front of Grace, but the uneasy feeling in his stomach told him that the whole jet-ski incident might have been much more than a simple accident.

"Jet-ski," Grace nodded in agreement. "We had to dive and Auntie Kono said it was important that I didn't let go of her hand." Turning her head so that she could look at Kono, Grace asked shyly, "And I did what you said, didn't I?"

"Yes Gracie, you did everything exactly right," Kono answered with a smile, gently sliding her hand through the girl's hair.

"What happened then?" Danny asked, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the worst. He wasn't eager to hear how the most precious thing in his entire life almost drowned, but he could tell that Grace wanted and needed to talk about what had happened.

"We were under water and I held my breath just as Auntie Kono told me." Dropping her gaze, she nervously looked down at her hands that fidgeted absently with the collar of Danny's shirt.

"Monkey?" Danny asked softly, trying to catch her gaze. "I'm sure you did everything that your Auntie Kono asked of you. You don't have to feel sorry or ashamed, for anything. Do you understand me?" He placed a kiss on her cheek while his right hand rubbed soothing circles on her back. "So, you held your breath…"

Nodding slowly, Grace repeated hesitantly, "I held my breath but then… then I couldn't do it anymore and I think I swallowed some water. I felt really funny but I wasn't scared because Auntie Kono was there, and then suddenly everything went black."

Not noticing the gasps of horror from Danny and Steve, Grace wrinkled her nose in concentration, pondering for a moment before she continued, "And then I don't know what happened, I think Auntie Kono swam to the shore but I can't remember. I just remember that I was lying on the beach and that Auntie Kono's leg was bleeding badly."

Looking once more at the dark haired woman, Grace smiled slightly. "And then we went to the hospital and the doctor asked me funny things and he said I could go home. And they put the bandage on Auntie Kono's leg and gave her the crutch."

Stopping the flow of words for a short moment, the little girl shifted her gaze from the crutch to her father, "Danno, do you think Auntie Kono can borrow your cane? It's much cooler than the crutch."

Despite the horror he still felt when he thought about his daughter being dragged out of the waves, unconscious and probably not breathing, Danny couldn't help but laugh at her comment about his cane. "You really think the cane's cool?" he asked, hearing Steve and Kono quite unsuccessfully stifle a laugh.

Seeing Grace enthusiastically nod her head, Danny agreed good-humoredly, "Well, then I think I can give it to Kono."

The happy smile that had appeared on Grace's face slowly dropped after a long moment of content silence, when she raised her right hand, tentatively ghosting her fingers over the wound on Danny's left temple.

"Have you also been to the hospital, Danno? Does that hurt?" she asked worriedly.

"It hurts just a little bit, Gracie, but I'm sure it will be much better if you try to kiss the pain away," Danny replied, looking expectantly at his daughter. "Could you do that?"

Instead of answering Grace planted a tender kiss on Danny's temple, very careful to not hurt him, then another one on his cheek and finally she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Hmm, that's perfect, Monkey," Danny said, returning the hug and holding her for another minute before he gently put her back to the ground. "Thank you so much."

Both Steve and Danny looked up in surprise when a loud gong reverberated through the air.

"What's that?" Steve asked, involuntarily stepping closer to Danny and Grace.

"Hey Boss, relax," Kono said with a small grin. "That's just a sign for the kids so they know it's dinnertime."

Bending down to Grace as far as her injured leg allowed, she said, "Why don't you go and join your friends? And can you let the other teachers know that I'll be late? I need to discuss a few things with your Daddy and Uncle Steve."

"Okay," Grace answered but she made no move to leave. "When will you fly back?" she asked sadly, looking up at her father shyly.

Before Danny could even think of an appropriate answer, Steve stepped forward, crouching down in front of Grace. Smiling at the little girl, he suggested, "I think we might be able to stay overnight, Gracie. Would you like that?"

The expression of pure joy that spread across Grace's face was enough of an answer and the blink of an eye later Steve found himself at the receiving end of one of Grace's famous hugs.

"That would be great," Grace whispered in Steve's ear. "Thank you, Uncle Steve."

Then she released him, swiftly whirled around and with a quick, "I love you, Danno. See you after dinner," she ran toward the nearby building.

Fondly shaking his head about his daughter's behavior, Danny turned toward Steve who just got up from his crouched position.

"So we stay until tomorrow?" Narrowing his eyes, he added, pointing a finger in Steve's direction, "But this time, Steven, you will be the one who explains our delay to the Governor."

* * *

The three adults stood at the edge of the field, watching how Danny's daughter ran toward the other children who were strolling along a stony path that lead to a large wooden building.

As soon as he was sure that Grace was out of earshot, Danny breathed out a tired sigh before he turned around to face his two teammates. His gaze flickered from Steve to Kono, then he said firmly, "Okay, spill it," at the same time that Steve said exactly the same thing.

Perplexed, Kono took half a step back, readjusting her grip on the crutch when she involuntarily put a little bit too much weight to her injured leg.

"Grace said, the jet-ski came back," Danny explained impatiently. "I want to know what really happened out there."

Throwing his friend a surprised look, Steve said, "So, you heard what she said? I thought you hadn't noticed."

Sighing wearily, Danny shot Steve an exasperated look, "I always listen to what my daughter is saying, Steven."

Slightly raising his hands in defeat, McGarrett offered an apologetic smile before he addressed the dark haired woman, "Okay Kono, I think we all assume that the whole incident was probably much more than an accident. Why don't you tell us what really happened?"

"I didn't want to say anything in front of Grace, that's why I didn't tell you earlier," Kono started her explanation but Williams interrupted her with a sharp wave of his hand.

"Hey, why don't we go inside, I'm sure you're not supposed to be standing on that leg," Danny suggested, shoving her gently away from the field. "Let's find somewhere we can sit down and exchange our stories, because Steve and I also have quite a bit of news to share."

"Okay," Kono agreed relieved, slowly leading the way to a smaller building behind the one where the children were taking their meal right now.

"How bad is your leg?" Danny asked after a while, noticing that Kono's limping got worse with every step she took.

"It's badly bruised and I got a few stitches to close a cut just above my ankle." Forestalling any further questions she explained, "I wasn't fast enough and the jet-ski hit me while I tried to dive deeper. But nothing is broken and I was in much more pain when I busted my knee all those years ago. I'm okay."

Seeing the skeptical looks on Steve's and Danny's faces, she repeated, "Really, I'm okay. But I would love to know what happened to the both of you." Gesturing with her free hand toward Danny's temple and Steve's still bandaged forearms, she threw both men an inquiring look.

"That's all part of our story," Steve answered, holding open the door of the small building for Kono to enter.

Hobbling over to the table in the middle of the room, Kono dropped heavily in one of the chairs, carefully putting the crutch on the floor beside her chair.

"This is where I sleep, nobody will disturb us here," she said, pointing at the two other chairs around the table. "Have a seat."

Kono waited until Steve and Danny sat down, then she cleared her throat and started talking.

"Grace and I were out on a surfboard, ready to catch a good wave, when I suddenly heard a jet-ski draw near…"

Kono spent the next few minutes telling her teammates the whole story, including the part on the beach where Grace luckily had started coughing and breathing on her own even before mouth-to-mouth respiration had been started.

The image of his little girl lying motionless on the beach was almost too much for Danny as once again his hands started to tremble and he felt as if someone had put a heavy weight on his chest, trying to cut off his ability to breathe.

Noticing the distress his friend was in, Steve place a steady hand on Danny's forearm, squeezing gently as he said calmly, "Hey, Danny, Grace is alright, remember? Just breathe, nice and easy. She's alright, buddy."

"You alright, brah?" Kono asked worriedly when she took in Danny's pale complexion and the beads of sweat on his forehead.

Almost a minute and a few deep breaths later, Danny finally nodded slowly, putting his hand above Steve's hand as he replied, "Thanks, I'm okay now. I just don't want that anything ever happens to Grace."

Offering Danny a sympathetic smile, Kono wanted to know, "Are you ready for the rest of the story?"

"There's more?" Danny retorted tiredly, but nevertheless he gave her a sign to go on.

"Well, guys, here comes the craziest part of it all. I think I recognized the driver of the jet-ski, if I'm correct he worked for a small boat rental just down the beach," Kono said, heaving a deep sigh. "Directly after the incident I called Coast Guard to look out for the jet-ski. They called me back a few minutes before you arrived here…" Her voice trailing off, she shifted her gaze between Danny and Steve as she continued, "They found not only the jet-ski but also a dead body on a shore a few miles east of here."

"The driver is dead?" Steve asked surprised, raising his brows about this unexpected news.

"Yeah, Coast Guard sent me a photo and it's definitely our guy," Kono nodded.

"Where's the body now?" Danny chimed in, his tone also holding an equal amount of surprise.

"I arranged an immediate transfer to Oahu," she answered, throwing a brief look on the display of her cell phone to estimate the time. "I think Max should receive it in the next few minutes."

* * *

Another thirty minutes later, Steve put the small tablet PC on the table in front of him, leaning back in his chair as he stifled a yawn.

In the last half hour he and Danny had told Kono alternately what they had found out about the four dead policemen, about Steve's stolen badge, about the blood results and about everything else they could think of, leaving the young woman stunned about the news that Paul Baines was obviously back in the game.

Throwing Steve a suspicious look when he saw his friend hiding another yawn behind his right hand, Danny wasn't able to completely keep the concern from his voice when he asked, "How do you feel? You look tired."

"That's because I am tired," Steve answered, slightly rolling his eyes about Danny's overprotectiveness. The truth was that he felt really good; tired but definitely better than the rest of the day. The slight headache that had knocked persistently behind his eyes ever since he blacked out in front of the Palace had finally vanished a while ago.

Danny eyed his partner cautiously, not convinced that Steve felt as good as he said. The unexpected collapse earlier that day had frightened Danny more than he cared to admit. Steve was usually a model of health and fitness and passing out twice a day without any visible reason was definitely not normal. Williams was glad that he'd at least managed to gather a sample of Steve's blood, hoping that Charlie would be able to find out what was wrong with McGarrett.

Staying overnight at Molokai didn't just give Danny the opportunity to keep a close eye on his partner, but also to spend some precious time with his daughter. Danny wanted nothing more than to hold Grace in his arms, hug her tightly and never ever release her. The time between Kono's phone call and the arrival on Molokai had almost been unbearable. The ache in Danny's heart had only decreased when he'd seen Grace standing at the edge of the field, alive and breathing, laughing and greeting him with an animated wave of her arms.

He was just about to ask Kono how much spare time the camp kids usually had between dinner and bedtime when the door to Kono's little room suddenly flew open and a whirlwind of pink swept toward Danny.

The whole jet-ski incident apparently didn't bother Grace at all, she was her usual friendly and beaming self, but she somehow seemed to sense that her father desperately longed for her proximity.

"Danno, I'm back," she squeaked happily, hopping on his lap and snuggling against Danny's chest.

"I can see that," Williams answered good-naturedly, smiling brightly from ear to ear; it just felt so good to have his daughter nearby.

Noticing the tablet PC that was lying on the table in front of them, Grace grinned in anticipation as she asked avidly, "Are there any games? Can I play, Danno?"

Pressing a kiss on her hair, Danny wrapped his left arm around Grace's waist, slightly grimacing when the movement pulled the wound on his upper arm. He bent forward, reaching with his other hand for the small computer.

"Sure you can, Monkey," he said gently. "Just let me close all those files."

Grace's brown eyes went wide when her gaze fell on the screen and on the photo that was displayed there. Danny tightened his grip around her waist when she fidgeted a little bit on his legs, asking hesitantly, "Daddy? Who is that man?"

Kissing her again, Danny mumbled in her hair while he started to shut down all case related files, "That's just one of the bad guys, Uncle Steve and I are trying to catch, don't worry about him."

Steve, who had looked up when Grace had climbed on Danny's lap, was softly smiling at their loving interaction, but now a frown formed on his forehead when he noticed the look on the girl's face.

"Danny, wait," McGarrett said sharply, ignoring the surprised looks he got from Danny and Kono, closely watching Grace's expression. The very same expression he'd seen many times before on her father's face, the Williams' equivalent for 'I know something's wrong, but I have no idea what's going on'.

Lowering his voice to a gentle hum, Steve asked, "Gracie, sweetheart, what is it? Have you seen this man before?"

Danny stiffened when Grace nodded her head, shyly at first but soon with grim determination as she still stared at the picture on the screen, showing no other than Paul Baines.

**(tbc)**


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks a lot for all your (anonymous) reviews, they really make my day :-)  
Hope you enjoy the next chapter...**  
**

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**Chapter 14:**

"I still can't believe that SOB had the nerve to go near my daughter," Danny said the next morning, the tone of his voice a mixture of anger and fear.

He turned his head to the left toward Steve who just pulled Danny's silver Camaro out of the parking space outside the small airfield where they'd returned the helicopter only a few minutes ago.

They had left Molokai right after the breakfast they shared not only with Grace and Kono but with all the other children and the few adults that resided in the holiday camp. Danny had been very reluctant to leave Grace's side, even more so after he'd learned that Baines had been on Molokai and that the jet-ski incident was probably not an accident at all.

But with Rachel far away in England and Danny busy with work, Steve and Kono were finally able to convince him that the safest place for his daughter would be at Kono's side. The young woman swore to protect Grace with her life and seeing the expression of utter determination in Kono's eyes, Danny finally agreed.

"Do you think Baines was behind the incident with the jet-ski?" Danny asked quietly, for the first time speaking out loud the assumption that hung in the air ever since Grace had recognized the man the evening before.

"I don't know, Danny," Steve said, taking a deep breath. "Perhaps it was just coincidence that he was on Molokai."

"Yeah, sure," Danny puffed out. "You really believe in your own words?"

Heaving a deep sigh, Steve's eyes flickered to meet Danny's gaze, holding it for a second before he returned his attention to the road.

"That's what I thought," Williams dryly commented Steve's silent statement with a sharp nod of his head.

"I don't think he'll come back," McGarrett tried to reassure his visibly concerned partner. "At the moment the safest place for Grace is at Kono's side."

"I know," Danny agreed reluctantly, "but nevertheless I do worry for her – for both of them actually."

Another sigh from Steve told Danny that his friend obviously felt exactly the same, a fact that didn't help to calm his frayed nerves.

"Keep in mind that we gave just enough fake information to the press to make Baines or whoever else is behind the attack believe that they'd been successful. There will be reports about casualties, that should be enough to keep them away from Molokai and from Kono and Gracie," Steve said earnestly. "At least until we know what's really going on."

Danny nodded silently, hoping with all his heart that their little diversion would work as they expected.

"How's Gabby?" Steve asked after a few minutes of tense silence as he stopped the car at a red traffic light, looking over at Danny who was absently staring out the window.

Furrowing his brow, Danny threw Steve a pained look. "Not happy with her twenty-four-seven watchdog," he said, tiredly running his hands over the stubble on his chin.

Unexpectedly staying overnight in a holiday camp for children didn't just mean wearing the same clothes as the day before but also having very limited access to necessary cosmetic products, like a razor or some hair gel.

"But after what happened yesterday morning, she agreed that a police car in front of the house is much better than a hail of bullets through the bedroom window."

Steve nodded his head, this was a statement he thoroughly agreed with. At the moment they still didn't know anything about the shooter's intention and Gabby's security was one of their highest priorities.

Running his hands through his hair in a vain attempt to smooth it back to its usual look, Danny glanced over at Steve, who looked like his normal tidy self; except for the dark stubble there was no indication that the man wore the same clothes as the day before or that he had lacked any comforts. Danny wondered briefly if this was a special gift Steve always possessed or if the tough SEAL training he had gone through, had taught him to simply ignore any discomfort.

"What?" McGarrett asked suspiciously, noticing Danny's scrutinizing eyes resting on him.

"Oh, nothing. I just wonder how you feel this morning." Turning his head to hide the smirk on his face, Danny watched Steve from the corner of his eyes as he asked, "No morning sickness today?"

"Morning sickness?" Steve replied, shaking his head in annoyance. "I'm not pregnant, you know?"

"You sure about that?" Danny grinned brightly, reaching over as he tried to pat Steve's belly. "I think you've gained a bit of weight around the middle."

"Hey, back off, man," Steve barked, slapping away Danny's hand, still shaking his head. "Trying to be funny again, Danno?"

"Sorry, man," Williams snickered a bit before he became serious. "Honestly, Steve, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, Danny," Steve answered, his tone holding just a bit of irritation. "Would you just stop asking me?"

Danny knew his partner well enough to be almost sure that Steve was telling the truth, nevertheless he couldn't help but press on, "No blacking out today?"

"God, I hope not. That's really a bit embarrassing, isn't it?" McGarrett replied, smiling sheepishly at his friend. Fortunately Danny's without certainty cheeky reply was interrupted by the ringing of Steve's cell phone.

"It's Fong," he said after a swift look at the display. Hitting a few buttons on the touch screen, he answered the call, "Charlie? You're on speaker, Danny's right beside me. What you got for us?"

"Good morning," the lab technician replied, coming to the point without further small talk. "I got the results of the blood samples, but I'd rather not discuss the results over the phone. Can you meet me at the lab?"

Steve and Danny exchanged a curious look before Steve said into the phone, "No problem, we can be there in about ten minutes."

"Great," Charlie answered. "See you then."

"Great," Danny repeated after McGarrett had finished the call, breathing out an exasperated sigh. Once more smoothing back his stubborn hair, he said, "Here goes our chance to go home and change into fresh clothes. I had hoped for a shower, and a shave would also do no harm."

"Finally stop fidgeting with your hair, Danno. You look good," Steve assured him as he steered the car into a free parking place.

"You might know a lot, McGarrett, but you have absolutely no taste when it comes to hairstyle," Danny replied, running his hands one last time through his hair before he exited the car. "So please forgive me, when I don't give a damn about your opinion in this matter."

"What do you have against my hairstyle?" Steve asked as they walked side by side toward the lab where Charlie Fong already awaited them.

"That's not a hairstyle, Steven. What you got is just a plain and simple haircut with no style at all," Danny lectured him matter-of-factly, swiftly forgetting about the subject when both men entered the lab.

"Over here," Charlie said without further introduction, leading them to a nearby table where he sat down in front of a computer terminal.

Opening up some files, he arranged the windows on the screen and waited until Steve and Danny positioned themselves in front of the screen. Grabbing a sheet of paper from the table, Charlie turned around on his chair, facing the two men in front of him as he said, "Okay, first of all, Max wanted me to tell you about the body, Kono sent over yesterday evening." He briefly looked down at the paper in his hands, smiling wryly as he started to explain, "The victim's name – and I assure you this is no joke – is Thomas Magnum, he…"

"Wait a second," Steve interrupted him, barely able to stifle a laugh. "That has to be a joke, right? I mean, who on Hawaii would give his child a name like that?"

"I agree, that's really a stupid name, "Danny said unsmilingly. "But if I'm honest, I couldn't care less about the man's name because that bastard nearly killed my daughter."

"You're right, Danno, I'm sorry," Steve replied, throwing his partner a quick look before he addressed Fong. "Sorry for the interruption, please go on."

"There's not much to tell," Charlie continued, once more reading through the report in his hands. "According to Max, the victim drowned. That's it, no signs of external influences, no injuries, no visible signs of illness." Shrugging his shoulders, Charlie looked up, "He just drowned."

"That's it? He just drowned?" Danny repeated incredulously.

Putting the sheet of paper away, Fong turned around on his chair and looked at the screen. "Well, the autopsy didn't reveal anything unusual, however the examination of the blood sample did."

Pointing at two identical charts and rows of numbers on the display, he illustrated, "These are the results of the blood samples from Andrew Creek and from our newest victim Thomas." Trying to avoid the offending object, Charlie refrained from voicing the man's last name again, an effort that earned him a quick, thankful smile from Danny. "As you can easily see, the findings are identical."

Opening up four other windows in quick succession, Fong's gaze darted between his two visitors as he said, "These are the results we already talked about yesterday, the blood samples from the four MPD officers."

Danny's eyes grew bigger the longer he compared the different charts on the screen but before he was even able to turn his thoughts into words, Steve's surprised voice reached his ears.

"They're all identical."

"That's correct, they are indeed identical," Charlie confirmed. "I found the same unknown substance in all six samples, they all contained the same mysterious, synthetic carrier." Grabbing another item from the table behind him, he raised a small plastic bag which held a few small shards. "These are the remains from the vial that was found in Creek's apartment. I can now say for sure that whatever drug we're talking about here, was originally stored in this bottle."

"I think you may find the same substance in here," Steve said, pulling the vial they'd received from Jenny Gordon and which was still wrapped in the disposable glove, from one of his pockets.

"You also need to check the glass for fingerprints," Danny added, watching as Charlie carefully took the piece of evidence from Steve. Looking over at his partner, he saw Steve rubbing a hand over his mouth before he sternly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You know what that means, Danny?" McGarrett asked, the quiet tone of his voice betraying the emotions that spread across his face.

Absently running his hand over his left arm where Andrew Creek's bullet had hit him just some 24 hours ago, Danny nodded as he breathed out a deep sigh. "That means, your theory of Baines taking revenge on everyone who was involved in the death of his foster mother, seems to be correct."

Voicing this assumption loud, a sudden thought crossed Danny's mind and he said slowly, "I know that Chin is somewhere in Canada right now, probably rather spending the whole day in front of the open fire in a small, romantic cabin together with his wife, than actually going skiing like he wanted to make us believe."

He interrupted himself for a brief smirk when he thought about the bet between him and Kono about the possible birth date of Chin's and Malia's first child. Danny still believed firmly that exactly nine months from now would be the correct guess and he eagerly anticipated the look on Kono's face when he proved her wrong.

"If Baines already went after Kono and me, do you think Chin and Malia are also in danger?"

"I'm not sure if Baines' influence extends that far, but it can't hurt to call Chin and tell him to keep his eyes open," Steve answered.

Fishing his cell phone out of his pocket, Danny threw a glance at the clock on the display. "What's the time difference? They're about three hours ahead, is that correct?" Williams asked.

Seeing his partner's nod, he swiftly punched a few buttons on his phone, retreating a few steps to have some privacy. "I'll try calling him," he said as he pressed the phone to his ear.

Watching his friend briefly speak into the phone before he dialed another number, Steve tried to control the uneasy feeling that had settled in his stomach. He wasn't completely sure if Baines was really after Danny and Kono or if the attacks were rather directed against Gabby and Grace. But fully knowing that this thought would understandably freak Danny out more than anything else, he decided to keep his assumption to himself for the moment.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, the knot in his stomach tightening painfully, furrowing his brow about the concerned expression on Danny's face.

"I wasn't able to reach Chin, neither he nor Malia are answering their phone," Williams explained, shoving his own cell phone back in his pocket. "I left voicemails for both of them as well as a message at the hotel reception."

"Okay, good," McGarrett replied, glancing from Danny to Fong as he continued. "If there's nothing else, I think we should now inform the Governor about the latest development."

Already turning around, ready to leave the lab, Steve was held back by Charlie's voice. "In fact, I have one other thing I need to show you," the young man said gravely, bringing up a seventh window onto the computer screen. The chart and numbers differed slightly from the ones they'd seen before but the similarity was definitely undeniable.

"I found the same synthetic substance in yet another blood sample…" trailing off, Charlie looked from Steve to Danny and back, waiting for them to catch up on the new information.

Still pondering on the reason why neither Chin nor Malia were answering his call, Danny had only listened with half an ear. But now he suddenly noticed the shadow of foreboding that hung thickly in the air and the meaning of Fong's words sluggishly penetrated his consciousness.

"Whoa, wait," he said slowly. "What do you mean, another one? Where does that additional blood sample come from? I thought…"

Danny's eyes snapped open when he finally realized the truth, looking over at his partner he whispered, "Oh, shit!"

Steve stood utterly silent, his posture rigid, his eyes glued to the computer screen, he didn't seem to notice Danny's frightened gaze on him. He swallowed once, his voice hoarse when he asked, "It's mine, isn't it?"

**(tbc)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

"Yes," Charlie Fong answered Steve's soft-spoken question. "Unfortunately I found that same synthetic substance in your blood, but as you can see, there are a few differences."

He pointed at the computer screen behind him, showing a few different charts and numbers. "The carrier substance was the same, but as in all other blood samples I couldn't find an actual drug. I'm just able to tell you about the effects of said drug. The findings in your blood are slightly different from the ones of the other samples."

Raising his eyes, Charlie looked at Steve and Danny to assess if they were still following his explanations. "I think I already told you yesterday that in those first blood samples the levels of serotonin and dopamine were out of balance. However in your blood sample the levels of those two hormones were normal but I found significant changes in the level of adrenaline."

"Oh, what a surprise," Danny interrupted, rolling his eyes. "We all know that our super SEAL here runs on pure adrenaline practically the whole day." Grinning at Steve, he added, "But it's nice to finally have some proof."

The ghost of a grin crept across Charlie's lips; he didn't know what was actually funnier, the look on Steve's face or Danny's words that caused said expression. But remembering his findings, Charlie quickly became serious when he said, "On the contrary, I found an extremely low level of adrenaline in the blood sample." Ignoring the surprised looks on his visitors' faces, he continued, "That low level of adrenaline might be the reason for your recent blackouts. A lack of adrenaline would decrease the heartbeat and an extremely slow heartbeat might affect the blood flow to the brain, which can cause a blackout, especially if you change your position, for example standing up from a seated position."

"Bingo, that's exactly what happened when you passed out after exiting the car yesterday," Danny chimed in excitedly, seeing Steve hesitantly nod in agreement.

"Is there something I can do about it?" Steve asked, clearing his mind from all the questions that whirled through his head. "How long does the effect last? And how on earth did that substance enter my body?"

"Okay, slowly, one question at a time," Charlie said, defensively raising his arms. "First of all, I still have no idea how the drug was delivered. We now know that it can indeed be administered orally, as was the case with the four MPD officers." Throwing Steve an apologetic look, Fong continued, "So, it might be something you ate or drank. But just as easily you could have inhaled the substance, or it could have entered your body on a transdermal or transmucosal way. I think the only possibility we can eliminate is the delivery via the bloodstream, because I'm fairly sure you would have known if someone had tried to inject you with something."

Steve nodded pensively, the fact of having an unknown drug in his blood didn't scare him as much as he thought it would. He felt good at the moment and at least he now had an explanation for those embarrassing blackouts the last two days. No, he wasn't scared at all, rather he was very angry, bursting to find the man that was responsible for this whole mess.

"And how can we find out where that stupid drug is hidden?" Danny asked, impatiently running his hands through his hair to prevent it from falling forward. "Don't say another word about my hair," he hissed when he saw the smirk that appeared on Steve's face.

Innocently opening his eyes wide, McGarrett pretended to seal up his mouth by running his thumb and forefinger across his lips.

"To be honest, it could be literally anywhere," Charlie sighed, answering Danny's original question without taking notice of the little dispute. "But there's one more thing I can tell you which might be useful." Fong took a swift look at the numbers on the computer screen to confirm his following statement before returning his attention to Steve and Danny. "I found a significantly higher level of the substance in your blood than in the other samples, so I guess the drug is hidden in something your take in or use regularly."

"That helps a lot," Steve nodded. "We should be able to rule out quite a few things. Thanks, Charlie."

"You're not the slightest bit scared, are you?" Danny asked, studying the stoic expression on Steve's face. "The idea of a strange, unknown and quite possibly dangerous drug floating through your system would certainly scare every normal person to death, but needless to say you, the tough, fearless, superhuman soldier… oh sorry, _sailor_, are not scared at all. Why are you not scared?" Turning his head toward Charlie, he repeated, "Why isn't he scared?"

"I don't know," Charlie answered apologetically, shrugging his shoulders. "But whatever you do, I advise you to find out soon how the drug was administered, because I'm not able to give you any prognosis about possible long-time effects."

"Great, that's getting better and better," Williams exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at his partner, who leaned against a table lazily, his arms crossed in front of his chest, an amused grin on his lips.

"You," Danny said angrily, pointing his finger directly in Steve's face, "wipe that smirk off your face. And then would you perhaps be gracious enough to finally say something?"

Not trying to hide his amusement at all, Steve replied, "Why should I say anything, Danno? I think you talk enough for both of us."

"I talk enough for both of us?" Staring at his partner for a long moment, Danny finally shook his head. "You're unbelievable!"

Purposefully ignoring his partner, Danny turned toward Charlie Fong, asking seriously, "If for any reason we aren't able to find out how the drug actually enters Steve's body and he's exposed repeatedly, what can we expect? And how the hell am I supposed to react? What can I do if this crazy partner of mine keeps on faceplanting at my feet?"

"As I said, I have no knowledge about possible long-term effects, I simply don't know if those blackouts will possibly come more often or last longer or if the human body reacts in any other form to the drug," Charlie explained, speaking in the same serious tone that Danny had used. "But if it comes to the worst," he interrupted himself and threw Steve an intense look, "and I think, now you should be scared, because the worst case scenario we're talking about here might be cardiac arrest," looking back at Danny, he finished his sentence, "a shot of adrenaline is probably the most effective emergency measure."

"Cardiac arrest?" Danny repeated slowly, briefly shifting his attention from Charlie to Steve. "Well, I don't know about you, babe, but I'm definitely scared now."

Not waiting for a reply he looked back at Fong. "A shot of adrenaline?" Danny asked, his eyes suddenly snapping open as a crazy thought crossed his mind. "Whoa, whoa, wait, are we talking here about a Pulp Fiction kind of adrenaline shot directly to the heart?" His hands danced erratically through the air as he went on, "Because if the answer to that question is 'yes', then you can totally forget about me being the backup. There's no chance that I will ever…"

Danny's voice trailed off, narrowing his eyes to mere slits as he noticed that his partner was almost doubling over in laughter by now. "What the hell is so damn funny?" Williams asked through gritted teeth, accentuating every single word of his question.

"A shot directly to the heart?" Steve repeated, laughing out loud. "Come on, Danny, that's just in the movies, I don't think that you do something like that in real life."

Searching for confirmation, Steve's gaze briefly flickered to Charlie and despite his own concern, Danny thought he noticed just a hint of uncertainty and fear in his friend's eyes.

"Well, that is not entirely correct," Charlie chimed in and now Danny was sure that the emotion that flashed across Steve's features was indeed fear. "Until recently, an adrenaline shot directly to the heart has always been the means of choice to treat an imminent cardiac arrest," the lab technician explained. "But nowadays it's common practice to go either for a vein or one of the large muscles of the upper arm or the thigh because an intracardial injection holds too much risk of causing bleeding or injecting the wrong heart chamber."

"See, Danno, what did I tell you?" McGarrett said proudly, but not able to completely ban the relief from his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, you always know everything better, don't you, you genius?" Danny replied with a dismissive flick of his wrist as he turned toward Charlie. "So, in your opinion it would be useful to carry some adrenaline with us all the time? Where do we get it?"

Smiling brightly, Charlie rummaged through one of the drawers behind him until he found what he was looking for. "I have something for you," he said, presenting a small syringe on his open palm. "That's an epinephrine auto-injector, you may know it as EpiPen. It's used to deliver a measured dose of epinephrine, most frequently for the treatment of allergic reactions or anaphylactic shock." Charlie stretched out his arm, handing the small item over to Steve and Danny. "Ever used one before?"

Danny shook his head while Steve said at the same time, "Yes."

"Oh, sure you have," Danny exclaimed, snatching the injector from Charlie's hand. Completely ignoring Steve's protest and futile attempt to get hold of the EpiPen, Danny examined it closely before he addressed Fong, "What do I have to do with it?"

"It's dead easy, Danny," McGarrett interfered in a know-it-all manner. "Just pull off the safety release, place it on the outer thigh and push."

"Thank you so much for that detailed description, Professor Smartass," Danny glared at Steve. "Is that all?" he asked, turning his attention back to Charlie.

"Almost," the young man answered, his gaze darting uncomfortably between Steve and Danny, not completely sure if their banter was still friendly or not. "The most important thing is to press the injector against the thigh for at least ten seconds to allow the epinephrine to completely enter the body."

"Hah, I bet you didn't know that," Danny said triumphantly, tossing the EpiPen over to his partner, who easily caught it with his right hand.

"I did know that," McGarrett murmured, grumpily shoving the injector in one of his pockets, avoiding Danny's gleeful grin.

"Sure you did," Danny replied indulgently as he slapped Steve on the shoulder, finally having regained some of his good mood, now that he at least knew what was going on and had an explanation for Steve's recent blackouts.

* * *

A few hours later on mid-afternoon, Danny dropped exhaustedly on the couch in McGarrett's office. Closing his eyes, he carefully leaned back, hoping for the pounding headache that spread from the wound in his temple through his entire skull to retreat to a bearable level.

"You okay?" Steve asked after he'd ended his estimated nine millionth phone call with the Governor. Taking in Danny's pale complexion and the faint lines of pain on his forehead, Steve not waiting for an answer, swiftly stood up and grabbed a bottle of painkillers from his desk and some fresh water out of the small fridge in the corner of the room.

"Here," he said as he shoved the bottle in Danny's hand, sitting down next to his friend.

"Thanks," Williams replied hoarsely as he pressed the cold bottle against his temple. Feeling Steve's worried gaze, Danny cracked open his eyes to flash a quick, reassuring smile at his partner. Noticing the painkillers, he wordlessly stretched out his hand, waiting for Steve to drop two of the pills into his palm. He washed them down with a long swig from his bottle, sighing in relief when the cool water ran down his throat.

Pulling himself together Danny rolled his shoulders in a vain attempt to loosen his stiff muscles, bending his head first to the left then to the right as he murmured, "Man, I've got a killer headache here."

"The last two days have been a bit rough on you, huh?" Steve said sympathetically. "First the shooting, then the matter with Grace and Kono…"

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me," Danny answered tiredly, glaring half-heartedly at his friend.

"Why don't you go home?" Steve suggested gently, throwing a quick look at his watch. "There's not much to do here. HPD is coordinating the search for Baines, the only thing we have to do is keep the Governor in the loop." Sighing slightly, he added hesitantly, "And before Denning calls again, I think I'll head over and tell him personally everything he wants to know."

"You want to go there alone?" Danny asked, grinning wryly. "You sure you know how to behave yourself? I don't want to hear any complaints afterwards, Steven."

"Are you scared that I'll hurt him?" Steve asked back, a pensive smile on his lips. "Sounds very tempting, especially if he asks one more time how we could possibly have overlooked that Baines is still on the run after that incident a year ago."

"He really wants to put all the blame on us?" Danny raised his brows, half surprised and half annoyed, "Nobody could have foreseen that Baines would come back in such a way."

"I don't think he wants to put all the blame on us," McGarrett relented, rubbing his hands over his face. "He's just impatient that there's still no breakthrough in the case, and I'm totally on his side there."

The two friends sat in relaxed silence for a moment before Danny breathed out a sigh. "As much as I'm longing for at least 48 hours of undisturbed sleep, I can't go home now, Steve. We're supposed to find that damn drug. You heard what Charlie said about possible long-term effects and believe me when I say that I'm not keen on using that injection on you, no matter if it's a shot to the heart or the thigh."

"But we already agreed that the drug isn't hidden in the office, because if that was the case, you would also be affected by it," Steve replied patiently, referring to their extensive discussion earlier that day. After endlessly thinking back and forth, they'd come to the conclusion that the drug was most possibly hidden somewhere in McGarrett's house. "So, no need for you to stay any longer." Standing up from the couch, he offered, "Why don't you go home, take a long nap and we'll meet tomorrow morning at my place to search it from top to bottom for whatever it is we're looking for."

Contemplating Steve's suggestion for almost half a minute, Danny finally shook his head, grimacing slightly when the thoughtless movement sent a new spike of pain through his brain. Taking Steve's outstretched hand he heaved himself to his feet, taking a step to the right to put the empty water bottle on the desk, ignoring Steve's scowl about that action. "I tell you how we do this. I'll pick up Gabby from the museum, I need to make sure that she's alright and I owe her a personal explanation of what's going on," Danny said as he slowly moved toward the door. "Later this evening I'll head over to your place, so I'll be able to witness first-hand your next floor-diving performance, assuming that our idea is correct and the stuff is somewhere in your house and we haven't found it by tomorrow morning."

"You want to crash at my place?" Steve asked surprised. "I don't need a babysitter, Danny. It's absolutely enough if you come over tomorrow morning."

Making a dismissive gesture with his right hand, Danny opened the door of McGarrett's office as he answered with an impish grin, "See you later, babe. And be nice to the Governor. No shark tanks or similar crazy SEAL stuff, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Steve replied with a perfect salute and an indulgent smile on his face.

* * *

Steve groaned tiredly when the buzzing of the alarm clock startled him awake the next morning. He slapped the offending device to silence, covering his eyes with his left forearm to shut out the rays of sunlight that shone brightly through the open window. He kept his eyes closed for almost a minute, slowly and deeply breathing in and out in an attempt to get rid of the dull headache that had been throbbing behind his eyes since the night before. Rubbing his hands over his face, he slowly sat up, wondering if his usual morning run would chase away the pain, just like the other times in the past few days.

His gaze fell upon his forearms, he had removed the bandages before he went to bed, only a few angry red spots on his skin reminded him of the collision at the parking lot. A happy little smile crept across Steve's lips, no more bandages meant that he was finally allowed to go for a swim.

Grabbing his swim trunks and a towel instead of sneakers, shorts and top, he swiftly changed clothes. Silently moving downstairs he tiptoed across the living room, trying to snatch a glimpse of his sleeping partner. The small part of Danny's face that was visible – it was in fact the only part of Danny that was not tangled into the sheets – told Steve that the few hours of sleep had clearly helped to improve Danny's well-being.

As far as McGarrett could tell, his friend looked much better than the evening before, when Danny had stumbled out of his car and into Steve's living room. Pale and exhausted, he had barely managed to slip off his shoes before crashing down onto the couch, already sound asleep when Steve came back out of the kitchen a mere minute later, two cold Longboards in his hands.

The beverage still sat untouched on the small coffee table where Steve had placed it, a small puddle of condensed water around the bottle, but he noticed that Danny obviously had changed into his usual sleeping shirt at some point during the night.

Careful not to disturb the rest his partner desperately needed after two days of physical and emotional stress, Steve silently opened the back door and headed for the beach. He dropped the towel on one of the wooden chairs, sighing contentedly when the cool water of the Pacific Ocean surrounded his body. With powerful strokes he sliced through the smooth waves and just as he'd hoped, the nagging headache decreased bit by bit until it was completely gone when he returned to the beach almost an hour later.

Padding back into the house, Steve dried off his face before he rubbed the towel over his head, causing his hair to stick out in rumpled spikes. Letting his gaze travel across the empty living room, he frowned deeply at the messy chaos of sheets and clothes on the floor in front of the couch.

Steve heaved a sigh, shaking his head about Danny's untidiness, half amused and half annoyed he tossed the towel onto the recliner to clean up the worst of the mess. He was just about to bend down when a grumpy voice sounded from the kitchen.

"Where the hell have you been, McGarrett?"

Only a few seconds later the owner of said voice entered the living room, an exasperated scowl coloring Danny's features.

"Uhm… isn't that obvious?" Steve asked, raising his brows as he slightly spread his arms, looking down at his own dripping wet body. "But you're the detective, I'm sure you can figure it out."

"You're not supposed to go swimming, Steven," Danny growled, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he drew near, almost invading Steve's personal space. "At least not without telling me! What if you'd blacked out in the middle of the ocean? We'd never have known what had happened to you, until your dead body got washed up at some godforsaken beach on this godforsaken island."

"Oh, come on, Danno…"

"I'm not done here, McGarrett. And for the last time, don't Danno me," Williams interrupted him frustrated. "I'm really serious about this. Where's the sense of me crashing at your place if you don't give me at least the chance to watch your butt? I'm supposed to be the backup, okay?"

"And I really appreciate it," Steve answered swiftly, a genuine smile spreading across his lips. "Really."

Puffing out a sigh, Danny stared at his partner, slightly shaking his head. He knew that Steve did what he did with no ill intent, that was just the way his partner ticked, but more often than not this behavior was plain and simply annoying.

"Goof," he uttered under his breath, ready to head back for the kitchen when he suddenly noticed the change in Steve's posture. The smile had dropped from McGarrett's face, frowning he slowly blinked a few times.

"Danny…" Steve said hoarsely, putting a hand on his partner's forearm as he swayed slightly on his feet.

"Steve?" Danny exclaimed worriedly as he grabbed Steve's arm in return, closely watching the strange expression on the taller man's face. "What's wrong? You okay?"

**(tbc)**

* * *

You all love cliffhangers, right? ;-)**  
**


	16. Chapter 16

It's my birthday today and to mark the occasion and because I'm feeling generous, I will finally reveal where Baines had hidden the drug :-)  
Hope you enjoy the chapter...

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

"Steve? You okay?"

The worry in Danny's voice leaped to a new level when he didn't get an answer, Steve just stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, blinking fuzzily.

But then, McGarrett's eyes slowly began to glint and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Just kidding," he burst out into a mischievous laugh as he stood straight, removing his grip around Danny's arm. "God, Danny, you should have seen the look on your face."

Shaking his head in utter disbelief, Williams kept silent for a moment before he angrily hissed through gritted teeth, "Just kidding? That is so not funny, you jerk!" Smacking his hand against Steve's bicep he growled, "If you ever do that again, the look on **my** face is the last thing you have to worry about, because I'll punch yours."

Turning around on his heels, he headed for the kitchen, mumbling under his breath but loud enough that Steve was able to understand every single word. "Just kidding, he says. Never heard anything funnier, still laughing my ass off, Steven!"

Grinning smugly, Steve also turned around and waved a short goodbye at his partner, "I'm going to take a shower, and later I'd like to have some fruit for breakfast, if you don't mind."

"Breakfast?" Danny retorted angrily, stopping dead in the doorframe. He whirled around, accentuating his statement by stabbing his fingers in Steve's direction. "You must be even crazier than I thought if you really believe I'll serve you breakfast after what you just pulled on me. Do you want me to tell you where you can stick your breakfast? You…"

"Love you too, Danno," McGarrett interrupted him gleefully while he slowly walked up the stairs.

"Idiot!" Danny answered emphatically, retreating back into the kitchen.

Steve could hear him mumbling and ranting all the way to the second floor until he shut the bathroom door behind him. Still smiling, he hung up the wet towel and swiftly hopped into the shower.

When he returned downstairs to the kitchen barely fifteen minutes later, neatly shaven and clothed in his usual cargo pants - polo shirt combination, he found Danny hunched over the newspaper, pretending to not notice Steve's entry, the slightly narrowed eyes and the pinched corners of his mouth a clear sign that Williams was still angry.

Steve sighed silently, helping himself to a cup of coffee, he leaned against the edge of the sink. Pondering on the best way to approach his partner without causing another major rant, McGarrett pensively took a sip of his coffee, grimacing when the bitter flavor unpleasantly mixed with the peppermint taste of his freshly brushed teeth. Rolling the mug between his hands, Steve asked innocuously, "Anything interesting in there?"

Raising his head, Danny briefly glared at Steve before he returned his gaze to the article he was reading, "Let's just not talk."

"You mean right now? Or ever again?" Steve retorted, a wry grin on his lips when he suddenly remembered another time they'd had the exact same conversation.

"Just both, okay?"

That line together with the faint crinkles that appeared around Danny's eyes told Steve that his friend had also relived the memory of their very first argument. But Danny still stubbornly refused to start a real conversation, noisily flipping the pages, he delved deeper into the newspaper.

Sipping at his coffee, Steve decided to give the other man a bit more time, not doubting that sooner or later Danny would be ready to talk. Smiling patiently, Steve slightly bent forward, trying to read along some of the news, but after a few moments he gave up, looking around for his usual breakfast ingredients.

He just was about to grab an apple from the fruit basket behind him, when a sudden, familiar wave of dizziness crashed down on him. Wrapping his fingers tightly around the mug, McGarrett closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the worst onslaught but the feeling of disorientation increased with every passing second.

Steve fought his eyes open, struggling to keep upright when the room around him spun heavily. "Danny, I think something's wrong," he murmured sluggishly through the swirling haze in front of his eyes. "I… I don't feel so good."

"It was barely funny the first time, Steven, but now it's just dumb," Danny replied exasperated, not bothering to look up from the newspaper report he was reading.

"No fun…" Steve gasped out as he tried to put the mug down, but it slipped from his trembling fingers, dancing over the work top before it crashed to the floor, spilling its content all over the tiles.

Danny's head jerked up at the sound, he immediately jumped to his feet when he took in his partner's sickly appearance.

"Need… sit down…" Steve panted. He screwed up his eyes and slightly shook his head, then blinked rapidly as he made a tentative try to reach the nearest kitchen chair. He didn't stand the ghost of chance. Even before he finished the first step, his eyes rolled back in his head and his legs buckled, only Danny's immediate action saving the former SEAL from knocking his head on the edge of the sideboard.

"Shit!" Danny grunted, trying to guide Steve's limp body to the floor as gently as possible.

"Steve? Hey, can you hear me? Steve?" Danny asked loudly, as he grabbed his partner's wrist, frantically searching for a pulse.

The pulse was there, beating surprisingly strong beneath Danny's fingertips. But even without being a doctor, Danny knew that a maximum of thirty beats per minute was much too slow, even for an athletic and fit person like Steve.

"Steve? Hey, come on, open your eyes, man," Danny tried once more, gently slapping Steve's cheek with his left hand while his right hand was still wrapped around McGarrett's wrist.

Noticing Steve's ice cold hands, he pondered for the blink of an eye before he jumped to his feet, sprinting into the living room. Only a few seconds later he was back with a pillow and the blanket he'd used for sleeping.

Carefully Danny placed the pillow under Steve's head and draped the blanket over Steve's motionless body before he pulled one of the kitchen chairs nearer, propping up Steve's legs onto the seat. Pretty pleased with the achieved shock position, Danny took Steve's pulse once more and after counting the beats he was relieved to find it slightly increased.

"Steve? Can you hear me?" Danny's desperate question was accompanied by a firm shake of Steve's shoulder, but there was still not the slightest of movement from his partner.

"Okay, McGarrett, last chance to wake up," Danny murmured more to himself than actually addressing the other man, worriedly chewing on his lower lip. "I know you will be more than pissed but you leave me no other option than calling an ambulance."

Laboriously standing up from his kneeling position, Danny walked the few steps over to the kitchen table, grabbing his cell phone from its place next to the newspaper. He just was about to dial 911 when he heard Steve breathe out a faint moan. Shoving the device in his pocket, Danny hurried back to his partner, crouching down at Steve's side.

"Come on, sunshine, time to wake up," Williams said in faked cheerfulness, adding a few more slaps to Steve's cheek. He breathed out a relieved sigh when he finally got a response.

"Stop it," McGarrett slurred hoarsely, turning his head as he weakly tried to push away Danny's hand.

"Steve, you back with me? Come on, open your eyes, man," Danny replied with a grim smile on his lips, but even if he tried to conceal it, worry and concern were still evident in his voice.

Placing his right hand on the other man's shoulder to provide physical contact and ease Steve's way back to consciousness, Danny asked cautiously, "Steve, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?"

After a few, long seconds, Danny finally saw Steve's Adam's apple bobbing when he strained to swallow, deep lines formed on his forehead as he slowly blinked his eyes open.

"Hey, welcome back," Danny said quietly, gently squeezing Steve's shoulder. "You okay?"

"I think so," McGarrett nodded hesitantly. Raising his hands, he pressed his palms against his eyes as he took a few deep breaths. Then he rubbed his hands over his face before he locked eyes with his partner. "Wasn't kidding this time, Danno," he whispered apologetically.

"Yeah, buddy, I figured that much," Danny sighed tiredly.

* * *

Half an hour later, Steve breathed out an annoyed sigh, sipping dutifully at the second bottle of Gatorade Danny had handed him a moment ago.

"I'm fine," he said exasperated, rolling his eyes about Danny's mother hen behavior. He felt indeed much better, only a slight headache and an almost invisible tremor of his fingers a reminder of what happened before.

Danny shoved his hands into his pockets, glaring at his partner while he slowly paced the kitchen without giving a reply.

"Danny…" Steve tried once more, but he was interrupted when Williams suddenly stopped in front of the kitchen table. Danny put his hands on the back of one of the chairs, leaning slightly forward.

"I got it, Steven, you're fine," he said grouchily, locking eyes with McGarrett. "I heard you the first twenty-seven times you said the exact same thing in the last few minutes." He turned around the chair and sat down, his forearms resting on the backrest. "But your statement would be much more convincing if your hands were not shaking like a bitch."

Steve opened his mouth to contradict but noticing the expression on Danny's face, he quickly snapped it shut and decided it would be safer to keep silent. Reluctantly he took another sip before he placed the half-empty bottle on the table in front of him. Slightly spreading his hands in an inquiring gesture, he sighed again. "So, I'm supposed to just sit here and wait, while you do what exactly?" he asked impatiently.

"Well, babe, I'm going to do exactly what I initially came over for," Danny replied. "I'm going to start the hunt for that ominous drug."

"That sounds like a bad adventure movie," Steve smirked. "'Danny Williams and the hunt for the hidden drug'. You need a whip and a hat?"

Staring at his partner for a long moment, Danny finally returned the grin, "That was actually quite funny, Steven. I must admit, you really have your moments."

"Thanks," Steve said surprised and quite a bit proud about that unexpected compliment. "Any idea where to start your hunt?" he asked matter-of-factly a few seconds later, returning the attention to the task at hand.

"I think the best way is to start the whole thing methodically," Danny said, pensively pursing his lips. Cocking his head a bit to the right, he slowly listed the known facts, "So, you blacked out this morning, then twice on Tuesday and the first time on Monday morning, is that correct?"

Steve nodded briefly, adding meekly, "But I wasn't feeling well on Sunday."

Williams raised his brows, but without dwelling on Steve's confession, he continued, "Charlie said, the drug can be literally anywhere, but I think we can already rule out quite a few possibilities. It's definitely not in the air and not in the water, because otherwise I'd be affected too."

McGarrett nodded again in agreement, keeping silent to not disturb his partner's thoughts.

"You didn't eat or drink anything this morning, did you?" Danny asked, even if he was quite sure of the answer. "Okay, then we also can rule out these things," he checked off the list in his mind when Steve answered the question with a shake of his head.

"So, what exactly did you do this morning?" Danny wanted to know, looking expectantly at the other man. "And don't skip a single detail, everything might be important."

"Yes, Detective," Steve said obediently. Ignoring the scowl that appeared on Danny's face, he listed his morning activities, "There's not much to tell; I got up, used the bathroom and went for a swim."

"I'm familiar with the next part where you played that extremely funny prank on me," Danny chimed in, impatiently waving his hand through the air. "What happened afterwards?"

"I went upstairs and took a shower, shaved and brushed my teeth," McGarrett reported. "That's it."

"That's it?" Danny repeated, raising his brows.

"Yup," Steve confirmed, nodding his head at the same time as he shrugged his shoulders. "Can't remember having done anything else."

"Okay, good," Danny said as he got up from the chair. "I guess, we can be pretty sure that the drug is hidden somewhere in your bathroom."

Watching curiously how Steve tried to stand up, he stretched out his arm to prevent any movement as he asked impatiently, "Whoa, where are you going?"

"Uhm… the bathroom?" Steve answered, slightly confused. "Didn't you just say that the drug is hidden somewhere there?"

"Yes, I did," Williams replied, putting his hands on his hips and narrowing his eyes as he looked down at his partner. "And here's the proof that you never listen to what I'm saying. Because I didn't say a single word about **you** going to the bathroom, did I? You, my friend, will sit here, finish your Gatorade and wait for my return."

"That's ridiculous, Danny," Steve retorted, running his hand through his short hair. "I'm not staying here. I feel fine and I'm perfectly capable of walking up the stairs!"

Staring at his friend for a good thirty seconds, Danny finally puffed out a breath, his hand cutting through the air between himself and Steve. "Fine, go ahead. But I won't catch you another time if you decide to faint again."

"You don't have to," Steve said testily, dragging himself to his feet. He paled visibly when the room immediately started to spin around him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he breathed deeply through his nose, resting his hands on the tabletop to keep his balance.

Despite his earlier statement, Danny was at Steve's side in the blink of an eye. "Hey, you alright? Wanna sit back down?" he asked concerned, placing one hand on Steve's arm and the other one at the small of his back.

"Just gimme a second," Steve answered through gritted teeth.

After a moment, he took another deep breath and carefully opened his eyes as he straightened up to his full height. "It's okay, I'm fine now," he tried to assure his partner, but the expression on Danny's face told him that he wasn't very convincing.

Closely monitoring the taller man, Danny reluctantly removed his hands, but hovered nearby, ready to renew his grip anytime if necessary.

"Your perseverance will probably kill you one day, you pighead," Williams sighed exasperatedly. "You know that, right?"

"Not as long as you're by my side," Steve replied with a bright grin, cheerfully slapping Danny on the shoulder. "Come on," he added, sneaking past his partner and out of the kitchen.

"Great," Danny exclaimed. "Then your perseverance will probably kill **me** one day."

He tagged along after McGarrett, and to his immense surprise – and relief – they actually made it to the second floor without Steve faceplanting or even tripping.

"Okay," Danny said, rubbing his hands when the two men entered the bathroom. "Just put forth everything you used this morning." He stepped back to give Steve enough space, watching with growing amusement the small collection of jars and tubes Steve placed on the edge of the sink.

When his friend finally nodded as a sign that he was done, Danny wasn't able to contain himself any longer. He grabbed one of the items, looking at the labeling before he grinned at McGarrett. "Seriously, Steven?" he chuckled. "Body lotion?"

"What's wrong with body lotion?" Steve wanted to know, his voice laced with genuine confusion.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Danny said with a wave of his hand. "I just thought, some tough, badass SEAL like yourself would use nothing else but water and sand to scrub yourself clean and maybe craft your own toothbrush from an old palm branch."

Without waiting for Steve's reaction, Danny put the body lotion back, randomly picking another of the toiletries. He turned the colorful tube in his hands, bursting into laughter when he read the label.

"What is it now?" Steve asked, rolling his eyes at Danny's display of emotion.

"Hawaiian Dreams?" Williams guffawed, presenting the tube on his outstretched hand. "Your toothpaste is really named 'Hawaiian Dreams'? Please tell me, it's not pineapple flavored."

Steve silently looked at the item for almost a minute before a sad little smile crept across his lips as he said quietly, "My mother used to buy this special brand when we were kids. She always tried to buy things from local companies, things that were produced directly on the Islands." Taking a deep breath, he swallowed down the gloomy childhood memories, raising his eyes to meet Danny's gaze, "But I agree, it's really a stupid name. And for the record – it's peppermint flavored."

Offering Steve a sympathetic smile, Danny regarded the toothpaste with newfound curiosity as he replied, "I didn't know that there are companies in Hawaii that…" Abruptly interrupting himself, he inhaled sharply, his gaze darting between his friend and the toothpaste tube in his hands.

"Okay," Danny said very slowly. "That might be nothing more than strange, little coincidence, but did you know that this toothpaste is produced here on Oahu by 'Imperial Cosmetics'?"

"Imperial Cosmetics?" McGarrett replied, furrowing his brow in confusion until reality suddenly hit him full force. "But that's…" he stammered, staring wide-eyed at his partner, who nodded grimly as he finished Steve's sentence.

"… Paul Baines' company."

**(tbc)**

* * *

Congratulations to **susy** who was the first and only one who guessed it correctly - it's the toothpaste :-)**  
**

**Note:**  
I'm away next week but I'll try to make sure that you'll get the usual updates on Monday and Thursday. Most likely I won't be able to answer all your lovely reviews, but keep in mind that they really, really, really make my day - so keep 'em coming! :-)


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! :-)

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

"Charlie promised to call as soon as he'll get any results," Steve said as he approached his partner who was waiting outside the laboratory, leaning against the passenger's door of his car. Even if Steve's as well as Danny's gut feeling told them that the toothpaste was the most likely item to contain the hidden drug, they had just brought all of McGarrett's toiletries to Charlie Fong to examine them closely.

"Okay, good," Danny replied absently, stowing his cell phone away in his pocket, a troubled expression on his face.

"No luck?" Steve asked hesitantly, his voice mirroring the concern in Danny's eyes.

"No," Williams confirmed. "Neither Chin nor Malia are answering their phones. And the lady at the hotel reception said, they had left early this morning, obviously heading back to Hawaii."

"Did she know why?" Steve asked in astonishment.

"No, not exactly. She said, there were rumors about an accident, but she wasn't able to tell me what happened. She just knew that either Chin or Malia had been in the hospital for treatment and that they had decided to break off their vacation."

"Hospital?" Steve pressed on. "Okay, but if they are on their way back to Hawaii, their injuries can't be that serious, right?" he said, rubbing his right hand over his mouth and chin.

"I hope not," Danny replied, breathing out a concerned sigh. "Let's check their flight details when we're back in the office, perhaps we can find out something else."

"Good idea," Steve nodded, trying to ban the worry for Chin and Malia to the back of his mind. He opened the car door and dropped into the driver's seat of the Camaro, waiting for his partner to get in before he started the engine.

They drove a few minutes in brooding silence until Danny finally wanted to know, "Did Charlie say when he'd be able to come up with any results?"

"Not before this evening," Steve replied. "But I think you're right, it can't be coincidence that the toothpaste I use is produced by Baines' company."

"Okay, listen, why don't we just stick to the theory that the substance really was hidden in the toothpaste," Danny said pensively, turning a bit to the left so that he was able to face his friend. "But how on earth did it end up in your house? Baines might be totally nuts, but I doubt that he contaminated an entire product line only to get his revenge on us."

"So, that's the big question, isn't it?" McGarrett asked, trying to wrap his mind around a satisfying answer. "How did he manage to foist that one special tube on me?"

"Can you remember when and where you bought it?" Danny threw his partner a doubting look. "The tube seemed to be fairly new, looks like you opened it just a few days ago."

Steve pondered for a moment before he slowly nodded his head, "I think you're right, I just opened the new tube last weekend, maybe Sunday morning… oh no, wait, it was Saturday evening."

"You sure?" Danny asked, his brow furrowed in concentration. "You said, you didn't feel well on Sunday, so if the drug really was hidden in the toothpaste and you started the new tube Saturday evening…"

"That fits perfectly," Steve finished the thought.

"Okay, what about my previous question? Can you remember where you bought it?"

"I'm pretty sure that I bought it last Friday…" Steve's voice trailed off and he stared wide-eyed at his partner for a second before he returned his attention to the road. Grabbing the steering wheel tighter, he exclaimed excitedly, "Last Friday, Danny."

"I'm not deaf, you know? No need to shout," Danny replied, waving his hands through the air. "But I'm not sure if I follow – what's so special about last Friday?"

"Last Friday," McGarrett repeated slowly, "I went shopping and when I got back to my car, my badge was stolen."

"Oh, yeah, your little Starlight Express story," Danny smirked, gesturing Steve to go on.

"I dropped my shopping bags, I remember that my stuff scattered all over the place, but when I came back after chasing Kekoa, everything was neatly packed into two new bags," Steve explained, throwing his partner a brief look.

"The perfect opportunity to switch one of the items in your bags," Danny stated, his voice now holding the same level of excitement that Steve showed earlier.

"You think the whole tackling and stealing my badge thing was just a diversion?"

Steve stopped the car at a red traffic light, impatiently drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel. He looked over at his partner, frowning slightly when a sudden thought crossed his mind.

"You believe that Baines had been there at the parking lot?" Danny asked, correctly interpreting the look on Steve's face.

The traffic light turned green and after having thrown a brief look over his shoulder, Steve pulled the car to the left as he swiftly changed lanes. Making a U-turn he stepped on the gas, flashing a grim smile at his friend.

"Well, I think it wouldn't hurt to check if the supermarket has surveillance videos of the parking lot."

* * *

Three hours later, Danny was utterly and completely exhausted and more than just a little bit stressed out. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, before he rested his hands on the smart table in the middle of the office, bending forward to have a closer look at the blurry pixels on the display.

It had turned out that the supermarket indeed had surveillance videos of the parking lot and knowing the exact time when the assault had happened, it should have been dead easy to find what they were looking for. But it also turned out that the supermarket's security chief was not exactly what you'd call tidy or well-organized and instead of handing them one surveillance tape, he sloppily pointed to a worn plastic container with a messy bunch of DVDs and tapes.

"I think it's somewhere in there," he said stolidly, nodding indifferently when Steve and Danny insisted on taking the whole box with them.

Once they finally discovered the correct tape – a task that was accompanied with many words Steve was sure Danny would never ever use when Grace was around – it hadn't been difficult to find the exact spot when the kid had tackled Steve and just like assumed and feared, Baines had shown up a mere moments later, kneeling down and helping to bag Steve's scattered shopping items. Steve and Danny even got a clear shot of him entering his silver Volkswagen and leaving the parking lot, unnoticeably following Steve's blue truck.

Afterwards it only took a few more clicks and swipes to trick the computer into sharpening the image, so that they would be able to identify the number plate of Baines' VW Golf and call up all available information about the car and its owner.

"Okay, what do we have here," Danny said, pointing at the information on the screen, skimming over the displayed text. "Silver VW Golf, 2010 model, registered to…" he interrupted himself, drawing in a sharp breath as he locked eyes with McGarrett, before he slowly finished the sentence, "… Imperial Cosmetics."

"It's a company car?" Steve asked, his voice holding the same amount of confusion as Danny's. "How on earth would Baines be able to still use a company car? I mean, he's been on the run from the police for almost a year, certainly he wouldn't dare to waltz into his former company and ask for a car."

Narrowing his eyes, McGarrett threw a pensive look at his partner, trying to process this latest news.

"Do you think he has an accessory inside the company?" Danny asked, sucking on his lower lip. "As far as we know Baines always worked alone, he had just some hired goons, but never an equal accomplice."

"And I don't really see any hints that he might have changed his practice," Steve shook his head. "Let's just check with the company what they can tell us about the car."

"Okay, I'll call them," Danny agreed. Flicking his finger between the smart table and Steve's chest, he added with a hint of a smirk, "In the meantime you can prove that you indeed learned something during your time with Naval Intelligence. Go check if there is some new information about Chin's and Malia's flight."

Without awaiting Steve's approval, Danny marched into his office and sat down behind the desk. Staring for a second at the multicolored picture frame that held his favorite photo of Grace, he sighed heavily before he picked up the phone to call Imperial Cosmetics.

* * *

It was already late afternoon when Danny finally left his office and approached his partner, who impatiently leaned against the big computer table, two cups of steaming coffee in his hands.

"Phew, that was one scary woman," Williams said, suppressing a shudder as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the phone on his desk. "I thought she'd bite my head off, right through the phone."

Still debating if the woman he'd talked to was a bickering dragon or rather an ugly old witch, Danny gratefully took the coffee Steve offered him. Having a small sip, he grimaced slightly, throwing a quick glance at his friend who also seemed to be rather unhappy with the content of his mug.

"It's high time that Chin comes back," McGarrett said quietly, voicing the exact same thought that Danny was just about to speak out.

"He really makes the best coffee I've ever tasted," Danny agreed. Wallowing in memories, he raised his mug and took another sip. Distorting his mouth, he put the coffee away, disappointedly shaking his head. "Nothing against you, but this brew here doesn't really deserve to be called coffee."

"Yeah, I know," Steve agreed, also placing his half-full mug onto the table with a resigned gesture. "Sorry."

Waving off Steve's apology with a flick of his wrist, Danny turned toward the taller man as he asked, "Speaking of Chin… What did you find out?"

"Chin and Malia are booked on a plane from Calgary to Hawaii, but the flight was delayed due to weather conditions, arrival at Honolulu International probably not before tomorrow morning," Steve explained his findings. "I tried to phone them, but the calls still went straight to voicemail."

"Okay, at least we have some information now. But Chin Ho owes us a big explanation once he's back on the island, which will hopefully be sometime soon." Danny took a deep breath, running both hands over his hair. "Do you want to hear what I found out?"

"Sure," Steve nodded, raising his brows. "Go ahead."

"Okay, listen," Danny started to tell his odyssey on the phone. "I needed about five thousand eight hundred and seventeen tries before I finally spoke to the woman who is responsible for the maintenance of the company cars."

"The one that almost bit your head off?" Steve interrupted him gleefully.

"Exactly," Danny answered with a pained smile, narrowing his eyes. "And wipe that smirk off your face, Steven, or I'll phone her again and have her come over for interrogation. Then I'll lock you in with her in the interrogation room and watch how she bites your head off. I swear that woman is a fury."

"Hey, I got it, okay?" Steve raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "Calm down."

"So, do you want to hear what she had to say or not?" Danny asked exasperated, spreading his arms in a wide gesture before he put his hands on his hips.

"Yes, please," McGarrett answered tersely, snapping his mouth shut when he noticed the impatient glimmer in his partner's eyes.

"Good," Danny huffed out tiredly, continuing his explanations. "The driver of the VW is one Constance Heyden, she had been Baines' personal assistant for many years up to his disappearance a year ago." Throwing Steve a brief look, he added quickly, "And before you ask, I'm not sure how deep the personal part really went."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked confused, slightly shaking his head. But when he watched Danny roll his eyes about his obvious naivety, he finally got the meaning of Danny's words. "Oh, you think they had an affair?"

"Outstanding observation, my dear Watson, I'm deeply impressed. I can now see why you've been chosen for Naval Intelligence," Danny answered with dry sarcasm. "Well, anyway, as I said, I might be wrong here. But I talked to her and as soon as I mentioned the name Paul Baines she started to cry piteously and my gut feeling tells me that she was far more than just his secretary."

"An affair with the secretary? If that's not cliché then I don't know what is," Steve replied with a brief grin. "Do you think she knows where Baines is right now? Might this woman be our potential accessory inside the company?"

"I don't think so," Danny said pensively, slowly shaking his head. Raising his gaze, he locked eyes with Steve as he added, "In fact, I'm pretty sure that she's not involved in the whole case."

"And what makes you so sure?" Steve asked curiously. He trusted his partner blindly but nevertheless he wanted to hear why Danny thought the woman was innocent.

"At the moment, Constance is on leave from Imperial Cosmetics for an indeterminate time. Three weeks ago, she travelled to Peoria in Illinois to be with her terminally ill sister," Danny explained matter-of-factly. "I checked with the hospice her sister is in – they confirmed that Constance had been there every day over the last few weeks." His voice trailed off, a sad aftertaste about the fate of the unknown women hovering in the air.

"What about her car?" McGarrett wanted to know after a while when Danny didn't make a move to go on.

"Constance left her car at the airport when she flew to the mainland. As far as she is concerned, the car is still in the long-term parking lot at Honolulu International," Williams said with a slight sigh. "My guess is that Baines probably borrowed it from there."

"Okay, so we have nothing at all?" Steve asked, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Nothing except of a proper description of the car and its number plate," Danny confirmed equally frustrated. "But at least we have a tiny starting point. HPD is already looking for the VW and if we're lucky, they'll find it in no time or at least someone who had seen the car somewhere in the last three weeks so that we can backtrack Baines."

"But that could last days before we have a useful hint. What do we do in the meantime?" Steve's voice held a good level of anger and impatience, the former SEAL was a man of action and definitely not used to just sitting on his hands.

"Well, my friend, I tell you what I'm gonna do," Danny exclaimed with a happy grin, slapping Steve on the shoulder. "I'll call it a day and pay Gabby a visit."

The grin grew even bigger when Danny noticed the touch of a pout that spread across Steve's face, but finally he took pity on his friend and asked, "But how about I come over later and we have a beer? And maybe it's for the best if I crash at your place for one more night, just in case the toothpaste wasn't the only item that Baines had contaminated."

"I already told you yesterday that I don't need a babysitter, Danno," McGarrett answered moodily, but the pout on his face rapidly changed into a slight smile.

"Yeah, right," Danny answered, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "When you fainted this morning, you easily could have caught your limp body all by yourself, right? Sorry to disillusion you, babe, but even that's beyond your superhuman SEAL abilities."

Waving off any response with a sharp gesture of his hands, Danny didn't waste any more time and swiftly headed for the exit. "See you later tonight at your place," he said as he stopped in front of the glass door, turning around to face his partner. "I suggest you do some shopping in the meantime. If I remember correctly, you ran out of toothpaste," he smirked, fully aware of Steve's aversion for big supermarkets. "But perhaps you want to switch to another brand."

He left the office but immediately came back, sticking his head in at the door. "Oh, and try to avoid anyone who's got rollers under their feet."

Steve opened his mouth but before he could even think of a fitting answer, Danny was out of the office and gone; only seconds later, McGarrett could hear the Camaro's familiar engine sound from outside.

Looking around in the abandoned office, Steve heaved a deep sigh, grumbling from the bottom of his heart, "I really hate going shopping!"

* * *

Carefully balancing three bags with food and two large paper cups of steaming coffee, Danny awkwardly exited his Camaro and approached the parking squad car.

"Hey Trev… Alan," he good-humoredly greeted the two young officers who were dutifully waiting in front of Gabby's apartment. "Care to take these off me?" Williams asked, brandishing the bags with food, handing the dark-haired policeman in the driver's seat the two paper cups. "Soul food and coffee for you," he said with a sympathetic smile.

"But there's no need… you shouldn't have…" the two policemen stuttered in embarrassment, but the look of pure longing and gratitude on their faces betrayed their words.

"Hey, been there, done that," Danny waved aside their objections, his own stomach rumbled loudly at the smell of the freshly baked malasadas. "Just take it before I change my mind and eliminate it myself." Only with great difficulty he'd contained himself on the way to Gabby's apartment, solely the thought of her fabulous cooking skills and the promise of a rich dinner with her had prevented him from emptying the whole bag.

Snatching the offered bag from Danny's hands, both men grinned happily, "Thanks a lot, Detective Williams."

"You're welcome. And it's Danny, remember?" Danny replied, also smiling.

Becoming serious, he threw a brief look at Gabby's apartment before he turned back to the two officers. "Anything unusual?" he asked with a nod towards the house.

"No, all quiet," the dark-haired officer answered.

"Not many people around at this time of the day," his partner in the passenger's seat added, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Okay, thanks. Keep up the good work," Danny said with a light slap on Alan's shoulder. "How long is your shift?"

"Till midnight," Trev answered with a quick look at his watch. "Will you stay the whole night?"

"No, unfortunately not," Danny replied with a little sigh, running a hand over his hair. "I can spare only a few hours."

After another minute of friendly small talk, Williams took off, waving a short goodbye as he left the two police officers behind and headed for Gabby's apartment. Breathing deeply in and out, he tried to shake off all the crap of the ongoing case at least for the next few hours. Danny thought about Gabby's warm smile and her tender embrace, beaming in joyful anticipation as he slowly unlocked the front door and stepped into the dark corridor.

"Gabby?" Danny happily called into the apartment as he closed the door behind him. "Where are you?"

Frowning at the unlit corridor, he reached behind him, feeling for the light switch next to the door. Activating the switch, Danny winced heftily when instead of illuminating the room, the light bulb over his head exploded with a loud bang, sending a handful of tiny shards all over the floor.

"God, stupid thing," he cursed loudly, trying to calm his racing heartbeat by taking a deep breath of air. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Cautiously crossing the dark room, trying to avoid the broken bits of glass, he opened the door to the living room, squinting against the bright light. Still holding on to the door handle, Danny blinked a few times, letting his gaze travel across the seemingly empty room.

"Gabby?" he asked hesitantly, frowning when there was no answer and a sudden feeling of foreboding and uneasiness made his skin crawl. Danny's right hand tightened around the door handle, he remained stock-still, only his eyes darted across the room in search of anything unusual. Very cautiously Danny lowered his hand, reaching out for his weapon, his gaze still searching the room in front of him, straining his ears to any sound that might tell him what was wrong.

An almost inaudible, crunching sound behind him made him whirl around to face the dark corridor, he drew his weapon, releasing the safety catch in one swift move.

Gasping in surprise when a fine, moist spray hit his face, Danny automatically inhaled a deep breath. Almost immediately his eyes began to burn and water and a heavy weight settled down on his chest, his breath hitching in his throat.

Squinting, he scanned his surroundings, trying to process what happened but he could make out nothing more than a blurry shadow in the murky light. Danny blinked a few times in a vain attempt to clear his view, and finally a lean figure emerged in front of his eyes.

"Baines…" he rasped alarmed as his throat constricted rapidly, effectively cutting off his air supply.

Desperately fighting against the upraising panic, Williams involuntarily dropped his gun as he stumbled backwards coughing and wheezing. He raised his trembling hands to his neck as he re-experienced the Sarin incident with cruel clarity. Shaking his head in denial, his runny eyes wide open in shock and stress, Danny bent forward in a desperate attempt to get some much needed air into his lungs.

To his immense relief it seemed to work, he was able to fight back the panic just enough to take in a deep breath of fresh air. But the relief was only short-lived because as soon as he tried to unbend, the room around him started to spin madly. Crashing sluggishly to his knees and hands, Danny summoned all his willpower to raise his head. Blinking feverishly against the gray fog that crept into his vision, he locked eyes with Paul Baines, who lazily leaned against the doorframe, obviously enjoying the drama that was unfolding right in front of him.

"Where's… Gabby?" Danny gasped out with his last bit of strength, his world wavering in and out of focus. "If you lay… so much… as a finger on her… I swear I'll kill you… you sick sonofabitch!"

With this his arms and legs gave out and he was no longer able to hold his weight. Dropping heavily to the floor, he just concentrated on the simple task of staying awake long enough to hear Baines' answer.

"Oh, don't worry, I promise you'll meet her soon," the older man said with a gentle smile. "Good night, Detective."

**(tbc)**

* * *

Let the whump begin… ;-)


	18. Chapter 18

Super SEAL to the rescue...

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**Chapter 18:**

Steve furrowed his brow, staring pensively at the phone in his hands. He just had tried to reach his partner, but for the third time in the last ten minutes, Danny hadn't picked up. It was already a quarter past nine, his partner should have arrived fifteen minutes ago. The uneasy feeling in Steve's stomach increased when he dialed Gabby's number, but both of his calls on her cell phone as well as on the land line went straight to voice mail after a few seconds.

He shook his head slightly – something definitely didn't feel right here. Without further hesitation, he hurried to his car, dialing another number as he pulled the truck out of his driveway.

"Duke? It's Steve," he said, speeding the car up towards Gabby's apartment.

"Steve, what can I do for you?" Duke's calm voice came across the line.

"Is Gabby – Dr. Asano – still under police protection?" Steve asked, the tension in his voice clearly audible.

"Yes, she is. Twenty-four seven, just as you ordered," Duke answered straightforwardly. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," McGarrett replied hesitantly, running a hand over his face. "Neither Danny nor Gabby are answering their phones. When was the last time the officers on duty reported back?"

"Let me quickly check that," Duke said, only a heartbeat later Steve could hear him typing in the background. Impatiently drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, Steve turned the car to the right, the few minutes' drive to Gabby's apartment seemed to stretch to infinity.

"Steve? I've got the information," Lukela said just a moment later. "The two officers who are assigned the task reported back about an hour ago, precisely on schedule. Nothing unusual, everything was quiet."

"Okay, thanks," Steve said slowly, taking a deep breath. He should have been relieved about that statement, but something still felt wrong and he'd learned a long time ago to always trust his gut feeling.

"Do you want me to send them in to check if everything's alright?" Duke asked, obviously noticing Steve's distress.

"No… no," Steve answered with a faint shake of his head. "I'm on my way there, I'm just a few minutes away." A forced smile found its way to his lips as he added, "And besides, perhaps Danny and Gabby are just…" he cleared his throat in a blatantly obvious manner, "… busy. In which case they probably won't be very keen on having two police officers burst in on them."

"I think you might be correct there," Duke chuckled quietly. "Call if you need back-up, okay?"

"I will," Steve promised, ending the call just as he took a left turn into the small, calm side street where Gabby lived.

Looking around, he immediately noticed Danny's silver Camaro, neatly parked behind a black-and-white. It was almost completely dark, at this time of the day the street was empty, most of the residents were long home after work, sitting cozily together with their families. Taking in the peaceful atmosphere, he slowed down his truck, lining up in a parking space behind Danny's smaller car.

He slowly passed the Camaro, walking toward the police car as he looked over at Gabby's apartment. All the windows except for one were dark, if Steve's memory served him correctly, the well-lit room was the living room.

"Officers?" McGarrett announced himself loudly when he drew closer to the squad car, not wanting to provoke an incident when he silently sneaked up on two cops in the darkness of the night. But as soon as the word had left his mouth, icy fingers crawled across his back when Steve noticed that the driver's door wasn't closed properly but left ajar a small gap.

Pulling his gun out of its holster in one swift move, he quickly let his gaze travel across the deserted street, before he threw a look into the driver's cabin.

"Oh, no, no, no… shit," he hissed through gritted teeth, yanking open the driver's door. Both police officers hung in their seats, eyes closed, their heads limply sunken to their chests. A quick check-over revealed no visible injuries and Steve allowed himself a small sigh of relief when he pressed his fingers against their necks, finding both man alive but deeply unconscious.

His thoughts raced as he grabbed the radio to call for help. His gaze flickered back to Gabby's apartment, hoping with all his heart that Danny had everything under control, whatever might be the matter in there.

"This is Commander McGarrett, Five-0," he said, his voice low as he closely monitored his surroundings. "I have two officers down, the two men who were assigned as protection to Dr. Gabrielle Asano. I also have the strong suspicion that Paul Baines is inside Dr. Asano's apartment, he might be holding Detective Williams and Dr. Asano hostage. He's most probably armed and he is extremely dangerous."

"Understood, Commander," the female voice at the other end of the line answered matter-of-factly. "I'll send an ambulance and a SWAT team, they'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"That's too long, I'm going in on my own," Steve answered, not bothering to wait for an answer. Knowing that help was on the way, he left the two unconscious officers behind, shifting his full concentration to the task ahead.

Completely relying on his deeply entrenched SEAL abilities, he blended easily in to the dark bushes in front of the building. His weapon at the ready, he sneaked around the house, cautiously looking into every window he passed on his way to the back door, but all he could make out were dark, empty rooms.

Steve reached the back door in less than a minute, clenching his jaw when he noticed the broken lock. Silently pushing open the door, he stole into the kitchen, blinking a few times until his eyes adjusted properly to the changed lighting conditions. He swiftly and methodically checked the whole room before he moved on.

Like a ghost, Steve moved quickly through the unlit rooms, effectively checking every corner for any sign of a fight or an attack. He moved soundlessly through the apartment, hoping to find out what had happened to his partner and Gabby. By now he had no doubt that something had happened to them, the empty rooms and the constantly growing tingling in his neck spoke for themselves.

At first sight, everything seemed to be alright, all the rooms were neat and tidy, the only indication that something was wrong were the bunch of tiny shards in the corridor. Frowning, Steve crouched down to take a closer look at them, pointing the light of his gun to the ceiling, he finally noticed the broken socket of the light bulb.

Sighing tensely, McGarrett headed for the last room, a small stripe of light shone through the bottom of the door. Listening for a moment, Steve couldn't hear a single sound coming from the living room. He quickly debated on the best way to enter the room, deciding that a surprise attack would probably be the most effective approach.

Taking another deep breath, he gripped his weapon tighter, yanking open the door with a large gesture.

He made two small steps into the room, taking in his surroundings with trained experience in the blink of an eye. Swiftly turning his body to all directions to ensure that no one was hiding in the corners, Steve came to a halt a few steps in front of a rattan armchair under the window, his weapon pointing directly at the man who was patiently sitting there.

Paul Baines was waiting with his legs nonchalantly crossed, his glove-covered hands loosely clasped in his lap, a friendly, slightly disconnected smile on his face. On the small table beside the chair, Steve noticed a few items that made him almost lose his temper – next to his own missing badge he saw a second badge and two guns, which upon closer examination proved to be his partner's.

As much as Steve was anxious to ask about Danny and Gabby, he knew that at the moment his most important task was to make sure that Baines wouldn't get away. Swallowing down his worry and a tiny bit of his anger, he reluctantly tore his gaze away from those items on the table.

"Paul Baines," McGarrett growled, his eyes narrowing on the older man. "You're under arrest. Get up and away from the weapons! Hands behind your head!"

The smile on Baines' face grew wider but other than unfolding his legs, he didn't move. His eyes glistened with anticipation and curiosity, he seemed to be unfazed by the anger that rolled from Steve in almost palpable waves.

"I said, get up," Steve hissed through gritted teeth as he drew near, bringing his body purposely between Baines and the guns on the table. His own weapon still aimed at Baines' chest, he cautiously watched how the other man finally stood up agonizingly slowly.

Raising his head to look at Steve, the expression of utter taunting in Baines's eyes was too much for Steve to control himself any longer.

"Turn around! Hands against the wall, spread your legs!" he barked out, not waiting for Baines to react. Instead he grabbed his jacket, manhandling the older man around, pressing him brusquely against the wall. The fabric felt slightly moist under Steve's touch, as if Baines had been in a rain shower lately. Tightening his grip on Baines' shoulder, Steve stowed away his gun, patting down his prisoner for weapons.

"Where are Detective Williams and Dr. Asano?" he asked harshly, involuntarily flexing his fingers when his palms unexpectedly began to tingle uncomfortably.

"Where are they?" McGarrett repeated, his voice rasping audibly. He coughed slightly, swallowing convulsively when he felt his throat constricting painfully. Furrowing his brow, he tried to ignore the feeling, speeding up his task to take Baines into custody.

Steve fiddled with his cuffs, but his numb fingers weren't able to get a good grip on them, the tingling sensation now rapidly spreading up his arms. Tugging at the neck of his T-shirt, he suddenly had trouble drawing a proper breath. Steve tried to swallow but his mouth was bone dry, his tongue only hesitantly reacting to his attempts to speak.

"What…" he slurred as his vision doubled. Stumbling a step backwards, he supported himself on the small table next to him when his legs started to buckle. Raising his right hand to go for one of Danny's weapons, he blinked feverishly against the gray veil that swirled in front of his eyes, but before he knew what had happened, the table toppled over and the weapons together with everything else tumbled onto the beige carpet with a muffled sound.

"Is everything alright, Commander?" Paul Baines asked gently, a small, taunting smile playing across his lips as he slowly turned around, curiously watching Steve's struggle to remain upright.

McGarrett squeezed his eyes shut, swaying dangerously on his feet as he tried to take a deep breath. He had no idea what was wrong with him, but he knew for sure that he wouldn't let Baines get away, he just needed to detain him a few more minutes until the SWAT team arrived.

"Maybe you should be more careful what you touch," Baines suggested quietly as he awkwardly took off his jacket, careful only to touch it with his gloves. Despite his restricted vision and the fog in his head, Steve noticed blankly that the inner lining of the jacket was made of a thick layer of plastic.

"But I must admit, I'm pretty pleased with my new mixture. I've improved the formula over the last few months and you're one of the first people in the world whom I've allowed to test it. I wonder what you think of the increased skin permeability," Baines said, smiling proudly at the other man. "The new mixture can even be used to impregnate fabrics."

"You… are sick," Steve forced out, hurling himself toward the older man, but his movements were sluggish at the best, and Baines stepped aside, easily avoiding any body contact. McGarrett tried desperately to stay on his feet, but the momentum of his unsuccessful attack made him stumble like a drunk and he crashed into the wall with a pained groan.

Sighing theatrically, Baines reached into his pocket as he said, "Always trying to fight…" Sadly shaking his head, he disapprovingly clicked his tongue. Pensively watching the item in his hand for a second, he raised his gaze just in time to see Steve struggle to his feet, heavily leaning against the wall to support his weight.

"I'm really sorry, Commander, but you leave me no other choice…" Baines soft voice trailed off as he crossed the distance in two large steps. He stopped right in front of Steve, whose expression was a grotesque mixture of anger and disorientation.

With rapidly waning strength, McGarrett pushed himself off the wall, making a last, frantic attempt to overpower the other man. Through the thick cloud inside his head, he barely noticed that Baines raised his right hand and only a heartbeat later a quiet hiss and moistness in his face were that last things Steve consciously perceived.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Well, that certainly didn't go as planned, did it?**  
**


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you so much for all the reviews :-)

* * *

**Chapter 19:**

The first thing Danny noticed was his own harsh breathing, sounding loudly in his ears. Only sluggishly his other senses flared to life, his drugged brain working slowly on fighting its way through the muddy mess inside his mind.

His whole body was numb and heavy, only his head and his left upper arm throbbed mercilessly in sync with his pounding heartbeat. He had absolutely no idea what had happened, very slowly he became aware of the fact that he was lying on a cold, hard surface, his shivering body protectively curled up in a tight ball.

He had the faint feeling that wherever he was, he wasn't alone, but he wasn't able to truly grasp that sensation. Maybe someone was calling his name, but the buzzing in his ears and his ragged breaths covered up every other sound.

Danny's muddled brain fired off chaotic impulses to his tired body and he wasn't sure if the things he was feeling were real or imagined. Something – someone? – touched his shoulder, his back, his hair and his first reaction was to shy away but his body just refused to cooperate. And the longer he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that the soft touch on his body, whether it was real or not, was actually pretty comfortable. He relaxed slightly, feeling his breathing even out a little bit as a hand gently caressed his sweaty face.

His heartbeat sped up, something about that touch was familiar and together with that feeling of intimacy an icy shiver crawled up his spine.

Gabby!

The thought shot through Danny's brain like a bolt of lightning and suddenly all his memories hammered down on him with a vengeance.

Baines had taken Gabby!

He had taken Gabby and Danny had absolutely no idea what that lunatic had done to her, where she was or if she was even alive.

Furrowing his brow, Danny struggled heavily to open his eyes, but Baines' frigging drug that still flooded through his body proved to be an insuperable barrier. The dark, woolly cloud inside his head took over every single emotion and sensation and Danny slowly drifted back into blissful unawareness.

* * *

Kono nibbled worriedly on her lower lip, her gaze fixed on an invisible point somewhere on the soft waves of the Pacific Ocean. It was long past bedtime and the holiday camp was eerily still with all the children sleeping soundly in their beds. A gentle breeze was blowing in Kono's hair, the heat of the day had finally made way for the pleasant cool of the night, but the young woman shivered slightly, involuntarily rubbing her hands over the goose bumps on her arms.

For the umpteenth time in the last few hours she pulled her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, her thumb hesitantly hovering over the display. Kono took a deep breath before she quickly hit a few buttons, impatiently pressing the phone to her ear.

"Damn," Kono muttered nervously when the call once more directly went to voicemail. "Where are you, cuz?"

Ever since Danny had called her earlier that day to tell her what they'd learned about Chin's and Malia's early return from their honeymoon, she'd unsuccessfully tried to reach her cousin or his wife.

But what worried her even more at the moment was the fact that she also wasn't able to reach her other two teammates. At first she'd remained calm when neither Steve nor Danny picked up their phones but after more than two hours she became more and more concerned. It was very unlike for the two men to be unreachable over such a prolonged period of time.

Staring pensively at the cell phone in her hands, Kono sighed wearily. Slowly turning around, she let her gaze travel to the wooden cabins where all the children slept. She'd promised Danny to protect Grace with everything in her power and she certainly didn't intend to break that promise. But if her gut feeling proved to be right and something bad has happened, she wouldn't be able to help if she stayed on Molokai.

Kono pondered for another moment before she nodded sharply to herself, finally having made a decision. She was just about to return to her quarters when her cell phone started to buzz in her hand. Almost expecting one of her teammates to finally call her back, Kono threw a hopeful glance at the display, but the ghost of a smile that had spread across her lips disappeared quickly when she recognized the caller's ID.

Her heart racing in her chest, she anxiously cleared her throat before she took the call. Not bothering with the exchange of pleasantries she asked straightforwardly, "Duke, what's wrong? What's happened?"

* * *

The first thing Danny knew was that he was cold and stiff.

The pounding headache he faintly remembered from before was reduced to a slightly uncomfortable pressure behind his eyes, but his entire body was aching as if he'd spent too many hours sleeping on a hard surface.

Still too dazed to open his eyes he slightly curled his fingers, the fingertips of his left hand brushing over something cold and smooth which he identified after a few seconds of intense thinking as glazed tiles.

"Danny?"

A familiar female voice sliced through his tired thoughts, the tone so much different from its normal timbre. Gabby usually sounded self-confident or professional or happy or humorous but now her voice was laced with hesitancy, worry and fear.

Only now Danny realized that someone was squeezing his right hand, small, warm fingers were wrapped around his own, colder ones. Trying to squeeze back he summoned all his willpower and after what seemed like an eternity his muscles finally reacted and he was able to flex his fingers.

Immediately the grip around his hand tightened and Danny felt a second hand stroking over his hair.

"Danny?" Gabby's voice was now definitely holding a relieved tone although Danny could still hear a good amount of worry. "Danny? Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Danny just couldn't bare the prospect that Gabby sounded so scared because of him. Despite the heavy tiredness in his bones he took a deep breath and forced his eyes open. Blinking a few times he furrowed his brow in confusion when the darkness in front of his eyes didn't disappear. He needed a long moment before he realized that he couldn't see a thing because of the simple fact that the room they were in was not illuminated.

Licking his dry lips, Danny cleared his throat. He slightly twisted his right hand so that he was able to clasp Gabby's slender fingers, his thumb gently caressing the back of her hand.

"Hey," he rasped, grimacing at the strange tone of his voice that reverberated hollowly in the dark room.

"Oh God, Danny… finally," Gabby breathed out, choking back a relieved sob. "Are you alright?"

Struggling to sit up without letting go of Gabby's hand, Danny swallowed down a groan when his stiff muscles protested painfully against the movement. "I'm okay," he answered, blinking a few more times to get rid of the slight feeling of dizziness as he turned his head in the direction of Gabby's voice. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light and the initial blackness slowly gave way to a cloudy gray. Assuming that the shadow by his side was Gabby, Danny moved closer, his free hand groping around until he was able to pull her into a tight hug against his chest. "I'm okay," he repeated gently when he felt her trembling in his arms.

Silently holding her for a long moment, anger began to slowly bubble up in him when he remembered what had happened. "What about you?" he asked, only barely able to keep his emotions in check. "What did Baines do to you? Did that bastard hurt you?"

Gabby shook her head fiercely, snuggling deeper against Danny's shoulder, "No, he didn't touch me at all." She interrupted herself briefly, hesitantly continuing her explanation after heaving a deep sigh. "He… he gave me the choice. He said if I'd come willingly, he'd refrain from drugging me."

Twisting herself out of Danny's embrace, Gabby leaned her body back against the cold, tiled wall, her left hand resting limply in Danny's grip while her right hand fumbled around in the dark. "I'm sorry, I should have fought him. But I thought it would be more useful if I was awake and alert. I thought, maybe I'd see or hear something useful…" She wiggled her fingers in an attempt to withdraw but Danny's fingers curled around her hand, not willing to let her go. "I'm sorry," she repeated in a whisper. "I'm just not used to situations like this."

"Not used to?" Danny replied perplexed, shaking his head in the darkness of the room. "Not used to situations like this?" Shifting his weight, he moved closer until he sat side by side with Gabby, also leaning his back against the wall. "I don't think you can get used to situations where you are drugged and kidnapped. Do you really think that I am used to all this?"

A slight smile found its way onto Gabby's lips when she felt the characteristic hand movements that accompanied Danny's speech and she moved a bit closer until their bodies came in touch.

"Danny…" she said hesitantly, her voice trailing off when Danny interrupted her.

"Hey, everything's alright, okay? You did good," he reassured her as he slowly wrapped his right arm around her shoulder and gently pulled her closer. "Cooperating was the best thing you could have done."

They sat in silence for a few seconds until he finally felt Gabby relaxing next to him. After a few more seconds, just when Gabby was about to open her mouth to utter what she wanted to say before, Danny asked cautiously, "So, did you see or hear anything? Do you have any idea where we are?"

"No, not really. I was blindfolded and I spent the journey in the car trunk," Gabby answered bleakly. "All I can tell is that we drove for about 30 minutes without any major stop between my apartment and here. I tried to remember all the turns we made but I soon lost track. But my guess is that we are probably somewhere near Diamond Head."

"What about this room here?" Danny asked, surprised and a little bit proud how calm Gabby was in a situation like this and how structured all the known facts she presented were. "Is there a way out of here?"

"We are in the basement of a house," Gabby explained. "As far as I can tell there's nothing in here. Just three plain, tiled walls, no windows, no furniture. I couldn't feel the fourth wall because the room seems to be divided by a row of bars. There is some kind of door, but of course it's locked."

"Of course," Danny repeated sarcastically. "Would have been too easy, wouldn't it?"

The rhetorical question didn't need an answer and so Gabby remained silent for a moment. Danny could feel her moving slightly as if she was searching for something in the darkness to her right before she said quietly, "There's another problem, Danny."

"Another problem apart from the fact that we are locked in some kind of dark prison cell in an unknown location and that we are at the mercy of a totally crazy killer?"

Despite the mess they were in, Gabby couldn't help but smile at Danny's clipped but accurate description of the situation. "If your statement was meant to help make me feel better, let me tell you that you completely failed in achieving your goal," she chuckled slightly.

"Sorry," Danny replied, reinforcing his grip around her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find a way out of here, okay?"

Feeling rather than seeing her brief nod, Danny exhaled slowly as he thought about the best course of action. There had to be a way out of here, not under any circumstances would he allow that madman to lay a finger on Gabby.

"Danny…" Gabby once more said hesitantly, trying to capture his attention but he was obviously lost in his own thoughts at the moment.

"What time is it?" Danny asked only a moment later, thinking that sometimes it would be helpful to have an own wristwatch.

"It's half past two in the morning," Gabby answered immediately, her left hand involuntarily moving to the long necklace with the small, delicately made silver watch that dangled from her neck. The little piece of jewelry she'd randomly chosen to wear today had been her best friend in the last few hours when she had nothing else to do than study the movement of the clock hands and listen anxiously to the strained breathing around her.

"Good," Danny replied, puffing out a relieved sigh. "I was supposed to be at Steve's at nine o'clock. I'm long overdue and that paranoid partner of mine has probably already put together a rescue party, which involves not only a crazy plan and lots of grenades but doubtlessly a whole bunch of other explosives and weapons I've never heard of before."

There was a short moment of silence before Gabby took a deep breath that sounded strange in the empty room. "Well, I don't think that will happen," she said cautiously, the tone of her voice caused Danny to turn around. His eyes had finally adapted enough to the blackness that he was able to make out blurry shadows but the expression on her face was still hidden in the dark.

"What? Why not?" he asked suspiciously.

A sudden shiver ran down his spine as Gabby took his hand and guided him over to her right side. For a short moment his hand hovered in the air but then he touched something solid and warm, a form that seemed to be eerily familiar. Squinting his eyes in an attempt to pierce the darkness, Danny felt like someone had just poured a huge bucket of icy water over his head when he finally recognized the familiar shape of his partner, lying motionless and apparently unconscious in the dark.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you the whole time," Gabby said gravely. "Because Steve is here too."

**(tbc)**


	20. Chapter 20

Thank you so much for all those great reviews, they really, really, really make my day! :-)  
Here's the next chapter, I hope some of your questions will be answered...

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

Danny ran his hands over his face and hair for at least the thousandth time in the last three and a half hours. Not only this gesture but his whole posture radiated frustration, impatience, anger and worry and only the fact that Gabby had finally drifted off to an exhausted sleep right by his side prevented him from vociferously giving vent to his feelings.

The headache and the slight dizziness from before had completely disappeared, but even though he had awoken just a few hours ago Danny was feeling a bone-deep exhaustion. He didn't know if that was the aftereffects of the drug he'd been exposed to or the simple fact that six o'clock in the morning was much earlier than his usual get-up time.

Heaving a deep sigh, Williams let his gaze travel across the room, but just like the countless times before, he saw nothing but plain, white tiles. About an hour ago the darkness they had been in was knocked off when the three big neon tubes on the ceiling suddenly flared to flickering life as if by magic, bathing the room in a sickly white light, causing two of the three prisoners to jump up in surprise while the third one stubbornly remained unconscious.

Trying not to wake Gabby, Danny gently pulled his arm from underneath her body. Watching her for a moment, Danny smiled affectionately before he averted his eyes and shifted his attention to his drugged partner.

In the harsh neon light Steve looked pale, a faint film of sweat glistening on his face but otherwise he seemed to be fine. Grabbing his friend's wrist, Danny checked once more for a pulse, finding it strong and within normal range, just like the many times before. Steve inhaled and exhaled slowly and deeply, but Danny had the feeling that his breathing had become somewhat faster and slightly more labored over the last few minutes. Observing the other man closely for a long moment, Danny finally whispered half angrily and half worriedly, "Dammit, Steve, it's about time to wake up."

According to Gabby, Steve hadn't stirred ever since he'd been thrown into the room a good amount of time after she and Danny had been brought here. Danny only could imagine how scared she probably must have been, kidnapped and locked up in the dark with two unconscious men for company. Gently caressing Gabby's back, he felt his heart constricting with love and pride for the sleeping woman. She hadn't told him much about the hours he'd been out, but he knew that she certainly had done everything in her power to make sure that he and Steve were as comfortable as possible.

Danny slowly stood up, nervously pacing the small cell. What Gabby had said earlier turned out to be true; the room was unfurnished, no windows broke the uniformity of the tiled walls, a small cross-barred plug hole in the floor the only anomaly. And of course the fact that the room was divided by a long row of bars that ran from one wall to the other, blocking successfully the way to the only exit door. Williams stepped closer, gripping the bars with both hands he shook firmly, but having tried the exact same thing a few times before his hope of being successful was almost non-existent. He couldn't help it but these ridiculous bars gave him the weird feeling that he was either taking part in an old-fashioned western movie or that he was sitting in a strange zoo cage.

Puffing out a frustrated sigh, Danny's gaze darted between the two corners that lay unreachable at the other side of the bars. He scowled angrily at the sight of the two cameras high under the ceiling, mounted to monitor every tiny bit of the room without leaving a blind angle.

He didn't know if the cameras transmitted just video or also audio material but the uneasy feeling in Danny's stomach increased at the thought that Baines was probably watching them and that he knew exactly what they were doing and saying.

Danny pensively sucked on his lower lip. He had absolutely no idea how they would ever be able to find a way out of this mess. With Steve here too, his last hope of rescue had been scattered, he had the bad feeling that they were totally on their own. One of the first things he had done after waking up had been to search his and Steve's pockets for anything useful. Unsurprisingly all their weapons and cell phones were gone and except of a few coins, the EpiPen Charlie had given them the day before, two or three – luckily unused – tissues, the small crumpled blister pack with painkillers and one of Gracie's favorite pink hair ties he had found nothing.

Well, MacGyver would probably be able to build not only a bomb with these components but also to magically open the door lock, shut down the cameras and get the better of Baines. Danny sighed tiredly, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn. Unfortunately there was no MacGyver anywhere near, only a McGarrett who was beyond doubt also able to overpower Baines in about 5000 different ways but who still wasn't showing any sign of imminent awakening.

And whose condition seemed to be taking a change for the worse with every passing second.

Danny whirled around when he heard a hoarse groan, closing the distance between him and Steve in the blink of an eye, kneeling down by his partner's side.

"Steve?" he asked, his voice calm and steady and hopefully not loud enough to rouse Gabby from her well-deserved sleep. "Steve? Can you hear me? Come on, time to wake up."

Thinking to himself that he'd experienced that very same scenario much too often in the last few days, Danny anxiously stared down at his friend. Steve's breaths were no longer deep and calm but came instead in fast and labored gasps, his brow was tightly knitted and beads of sweat covered his face. His fingers twitched now and then and he restlessly tossed his head from one side to the other.

"Hey, Steve, can you hear me?" Williams asked once again, louder this time, while he grabbed both of Steve's shoulders, trying to calm the former SEAL. Noticing that the physical contact seemed to ground the other man a little bit, Danny tightened his grip, repeatedly calling Steve's name. Steve's breathing rate slowed down distinctly but otherwise he didn't show the slightest inclination to wake up anytime soon.

Pursing his lips in concern, Danny almost missed the faint rustling of clothes, turning his head when he heard Gabby's voice next to him.

"Is he alright?" she asked quietly, placing her hand on Danny's back to offer moral support.

Worriedly shrugging his shoulders, Danny threw her an apologetic look which immediately was rewarded with a soft smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he replied gently as they locked eyes for a moment.

"Then why are you constantly yelling my name?" Steve's strained voice was barely audible, even in the quiet of the empty room.

"Wasn't talking to you, you goof. You've slept long enough," Danny said in faked annoyance. He closely watched Steve's attempt to fight his way out of the drugged haze, his hands still firmly placed on his partner's shoulders. "You alright?" he asked after a while, taking in Steve's gray complexion and the sheen of sweat on his forehead.

McGarrett swallowed forcefully, slowly blinking a few times before he finally nodded tentatively. "I think so," he answered hoarsely as he raised his hands to wipe them across his face. He took a few deep breaths, which brought at least a little bit of color back to his cheeks.

"Help me sit up?" Steve asked, laboriously straightening himself as Danny firmly grasped his left bicep. Resting his back against the wall and pulling up his knees, Steve leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. He breathed shallowly in and out through his nose, tightly clenching his jaw.

Williams placed his right hand on the other man's shoulder, watching warily how Steve's complexion quickly turned from gray to a sickly green. "Hey, how are you? Everything alright?"

Swallowing convulsively, Steve slowly opened his eyes, searching for Danny's gaze. He inhaled deeply, uttering quietly, "I'm go…"

"… good," Danny interrupted him angrily, scowling at his partner. He agitatedly waved his hands through the air as he continued in exasperation, "Sure, what else would you say? You know, it won't hurt if you admit just once that you're feeling miserable. But no, all you can say is 'I'm good'."

"That's not… what I wanted… to say," McGarrett forced out through gritted teeth, closing his eyes as he sucked in the air.

"Oh, it's not?" Danny's voice still held a slightly angry tone. Feeling Gabby's hand between his shoulder blades he pulled himself together and asked more calmly," Then what is it you wanted to say, Steven?"

Wrapping one arm around his midsection, Steve pressed the other hand to his mouth. Looking at his partner for a long moment he finally whispered, "I'm gonna be sick."

"Oh," Danny answered uncharacteristically clipped as he watched Steve swallow forcefully, his left hand clenched into a fist still pressed against his mouth. "Oh, well," Danny repeated, "that's something new."

Steve briefly glared at the other man, then he squeezed his eyes shut again without giving an answer.

"Perhaps, just try to breathe through it?" Williams suggested helplessly, not really knowing how to support his obviously suffering friend.

Gabby moved closer, hesitantly placing her hand on Steve's other shoulder. "Can we do anything to make you more comfortable?" she asked gently, rubbing soothing circles on Steve's upper arm.

Steve shook his head faintly without even opening his eyes. After a few long seconds he whispered hoarsely, "It's okay… just need a moment."

"Just need a moment?" Danny repeated, not at all happy about his partner's condition. "Just need a moment, he says. You know what you need, Steve? The best thing ever to get rid of a bout of nausea is a Hot Toddy – that's what you need, my friend."

"A what?" Steve asked with a little gasp, his eyes still firmly squeezed shut. He had figured out that concentrating on Danny's voice was at least a small distraction from his misery, so he clung to his partner's words, hoping that Danny would just keep on talking.

"A Hot Toddy," Danny explained, waiting for any reaction from his friend, but Steve just furrowed his brow in confusion, once more shaking his head which caused Danny to incredulously raise his eyebrows. "You don't know what a Hot Toddy is? Seriously?"

Waiting another short moment, Danny finally breathed out a small sigh before he continued, "McGarrett is a Scottish name, isn't it? Then you really should be ashamed that you have never heard of a Hot Toddy. How do you think I could have kept my 16-year-streak of not throwing up? The Hot Toddy is my secret weapon. It's a traditional Scottish beverage and as I said, it's one of the best things to cure nausea in next to no time. Basic ingredients are just whisky, sugar and hot water, but you can add a bit of lemon squash if you like."

"That sounds… disgusting," Steve managed to say, opening his eyes to mere slits as he squinted at Danny. He was doing a tiny bit better, feeling that the nausea was slowly but steadily retreating.

"How can you say that? You haven't even tried it," Danny retorted swiftly. Obviously noticing his partner's improved well-being he smiled wryly, briefly squeezing Steve's shoulder before he raised his forefinger, "And by the way, there's nothing disgusting about a sip of good old Scottish Whisky, not matter if it's straight or mixed."

"I don't really agree with Detective Williams here, good whisky should never be mixed with anything else. Don't you know the Scottish proverb _'Never drink whisky with water and never drink water without whisky'_?"

Three heads simultaneously whipped round when a quiet voice suddenly filled the room. Too occupied with Steve's condition, none of them had noticed that the door had opened a moment ago and Paul Baines had entered the room, staring at them with mild curiosity from the other side of the bars, his hands neatly folded behind his back.

"Good morning Gentlemen… Dr. Asano," he said softly, his gentle voice reverberating ominously through the white tiled room. "Now that everyone is awake, we can finally start with the show."

**(tbc)**

* * *

The Hot Toddy is for you, **sherry57**! As you said, it is the answer to a lot of miseries.  
Thanks again for all your help!**  
**


	21. Chapter 21

Here's the next chapter... hope you enjoy :-)**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 21:**

Steve, Danny and Gabby jumped to their feet almost simultaneously, the latter two however with much more grace and ease than the former SEAL.

McGarrett supported himself on the wall, stubbornly fighting down the lingering nausea. There was no way he'd remain sitting in the face of his enemy even if a cold sweat broke out on his upper lip, his whole body trembling visibly from the effort to remain upright. Feeling Danny grabbing his left arm, he took a few deep breaths and leaned heavily onto the offered hand until he was sure that he was reasonably steady on his legs.

Taking another deep breath Steve finally turned his head to look at Danny, giving him a short nod to tell him that he his help was no longer needed. Only a heartbeat later his gaze grew cold and deadly when he shifted his attention to Paul Baines.

Danny only reluctantly removed his grip around Steve's arm, not entirely sure that his partner was really okay. Steve was still sweating and he looked more than a bit green about the gills, but the expression on his face was determined and hard. Recognizing that very special look Williams stifled a sigh. Steve could be missing a limb or be on the brink of death but in his current mood nothing and no one would be able to stop him from doing what he intended to do.

"So, you came down here to talk about whisky and Scottish sayings?" Steve asked coldly, his voice hoarse but strong. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Robert Burns say _'Freedom and whisky go together'_? Wouldn't that give you the perfect opportunity to turn yourself in and set us free?"

Paul Baines' lips curled in amusement as he chuckled faintly. "Ah, I see, you are a well-educated man, Commander McGarrett," he said softly. "But I fear I have other plans for you."

His hands still folded behind his back, Baines stepped closer to the bars. His gray eyes were sparkling as he closely watched his three prisoners, his gaze finally coming to a rest on Steve's pale, sweaty face.

"I couldn't fail to note that you're obviously not feeling well," he remarked quietly. "I'm sorry that my new mixture made you sick." His smile brightened when he watched Steve unconsciously wipe his palms on his pants. "Apparently it needs a bit more fine-tuning. But now you're all here, I might have the perfect solution to all those problems. I hope you don't mind acting as guinea pigs for a few experiments?"

"Oh no, certainly not," Danny retorted sarcastically. "I can think of nothing better than impersonating a laboratory rat for a sick, lunatic wannabe scientist like yourself."

"Now, now, Detective. Those are harsh words," Baines said, clicking his tongue in disapproval but still smiling slightly, the look on his face made Danny's blood boil in anger.

"What do you really want from us?" Steve asked coolly, preventing Danny from uttering further insults.

"That question is easy to answer, Commander," Baines replied.

The smile suddenly dropped from his lips and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He looked briefly at Gabby, then he shifted his gaze, locking eyes with Danny for almost a minute. Just as Steve grew more and more impatient, the older man averted his gaze from Danny and turned his attention back to Steve. A totally different smile colored his features – cold, dangerous and threatening. The temperature in the room seemed to decrease, causing Gabby to involuntarily step closer to Danny.

"Revenge," Baines finally said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. "I want revenge."

Wrapping his arm around Gabby's waist, Danny pulled her closer to ease her obvious distress. He gave her a brief, encouraging nod before he looked back at their captor.

"Don't you think that killing six police officers and at least two innocent bystanders is maybe – just maybe – revenge enough?" Williams asked, only barely able to keep his emotions at bay. Right now he wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid smile from Baines' face and make the man suffer for all the cruelties he'd done in the past and above all for the fact that he'd tried to kill his beloved little Grace.

"And for what exactly do you seek revenge?" Steve intervened, quickly running the back of his hand across his face to wipe away the sweat. The whole situation, facing Baines, and all the anger and rage that man provoked, all that seemed to have helped Steve to get rid of the nausea. His complexion was no longer sickly pale and he was steady standing on both feet, no longer bracing himself against the wall. A condescending smile found its way to McGarrett's face as he asked provocatively, "Are you just pissed that you're no longer in possession of your company, no longer a well-respected member of society? That you have no longer a legal disguise for your little drug experiments? Or do you simply want revenge for the death of your foster mother?"

"Ah yes Commander, I knew that you of all people would understand my motivation," Baines replied gently. "After all, you also lost your mother, didn't you?"

"Excuse me?" Danny asked incredulously before Steve could even think of an appropriate answer. "Are you really comparing yourself to Steve? Let me tell you that there are zero similarities between the two of you. You are just a mad, cold-blooded murder while Steve is a man of honor. He would never – **never** – walk around and kill innocent people!"

"Danny, don't…" Steve pressed urgently but before he was able to finish the sentence Baines interrupted him coldly.

"I don't think that you know what you're talking about," the older man said as he turned towards Danny. "How would you know how it feels like to lose a mother? If I'm correct your parents are still living in New Jersey. I could easily arrange a little accident, let's say maybe a drunken driver? Or another confused sharpshooter?" Baines' gray eyes were cold and the ferocious smile was back on his lips. "There are so many possibilities."

"You bastard!" Danny exclaimed, darting forward, only to be stopped by Steve's and Gabby's hands. "You're lucky that these fucking bars are between us," Danny growled angrily, yanking his right arm out of Steve's grip but reluctantly staying where he was. "Or otherwise it would be my pleasure to wipe the floor with you."

"Very nice, Detective Williams, very nice," Baines smirked with a click of his tongue. "But don't waste your breath with idle threats." Looking pensively at Danny, the smile on his face grew even wider. "Do you think it's worse to lose a parent or a child?" he mused, slowly pacing in front of his prisoners.

Bringing his hands to the front, they could now see that he was holding a gun, most probably one of Steve's and Danny's service weapons.

Locking eyes with Danny, he continued, "Perhaps you can tell me about your experience? After all you recently lost your daughter, don't you? I heard about that terrible jet-ski accident that also killed your young colleague Officer Kalakaua. I'm so very sorry about your loss." He interrupted himself, briefly giggling under his breath. "Or maybe I'm not."

Noticing the furious look on Danny's face Baines suddenly sobered, his voice low and sharp as he said, "Thinking about that… you don't look very grief-stricken. I thought the loss of your little girl would surely destroy you, but apparently I was wrong. Maybe you didn't love your daughter as much as you always pretended?"

Gritting his teeth, Danny took a few deep breaths, before he hissed angrily, "I love my daughter more than you can ever imagine, you sick scumbag!" Feeling Steve's stoic presence by his right side and Gabby's soothing hand on his arm, Danny took another deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. Staring at Baines for a long moment, he couldn't help the smile that crept across his lips as he said slowly and distinctly, "Maybe you shouldn't believe everything that's in the newspapers nowadays."

Turning his head, Williams briefly grinned at Steve, thanking him silently for the brilliant idea to put out a fake newspaper article about the jet-ski incident. Steve's idea evidently had worked as hoped, the mention of two casualties had stopped Baines from keeping going after Kono and Grace.

Studying the faces of his prisoners, Paul Baines finally seemed to understand that he'd been tricked. "I see," he said gently. "Very clever, you managed to fool me there." He sighed theatrically, once again clicking his tongue. "But it really doesn't matter anymore, does it? I have you and once I'm done with you it will be my pleasure to go after the two lovely girls again. With all of you gone it should be dead easy to get rid of a lonely, mourning, young woman and a little child. After all Officer Kalakaua won't have only lost her colleagues but also her beloved cousin. I heard skiing is so very dangerous at this time of the year. Isn't it a shame that young love must end so tragically?"

Exchanging a grim look, Steve and Danny saw their worst fear confirmed. Chin's and Malia's early return from their honeymoon really was Baines' doing. But as well as the man had prepared his evil plans, as sloppy he apparently had been in pursuing the success of his actions. Baines probably was much too confident in his abilities, a fact that might be playing to their advantage.

Letting Baines believe that he eliminated Chin as well, Steve asked impatiently, "Are you done now? All this talking really gets boring. Why don't you just shut up and leave us alone?"

"I'm sorry Commander, but I really can't do that," Baines replied chuckling. "As I said, I have plans for you."

Becoming serious, he slowly raised his right hand, pointing his weapon at Gabby. "Dr. Asano, would you be so kind as to join me?" he asked politely, motioning her to come closer.

Gabby gasped audibly as she anxiously tightened her grip around Danny's forearm. In one flowing movement, Danny pulled his girlfriend behind his back, at the very same moment as Steve took a step forward and closer to his partner so that the two men effectively shielded Gabby from whatever Baines had planned.

Heaving an exasperated sigh, Paul Baines clicked his tongue in annoyance, a habit that slowly but surely was getting on Danny's nerves. "Very gentlemanly, but the time for playing games is over now," Baines said, his voice still soft but with an unmistakable sharp undertone. He let his eyes travel from Steve to Danny, sneering at the hateful glares that he received from both men. He took a step to the left so that he was able to snatch a look at Gabby.

"Dr. Asano, either you come willingly and I promise I won't hurt you or I'll unfortunately have to make use of this nice little weapon," Baines said, slightly waving the gun in his hand. "I haven't yet decided where exactly the first bullet will hit but I can assure you that it will be a painful experience, no matter which of you will be the first target."

Cocking his head to the right, Baines didn't have to wait long for a response to his threat.

"What do you want from Gabby?" Steve asked. Standing alongside his partner, he could feel the minute tremors that ran through Danny's body, a clear sign of all the pent up anger and fear.

"Well Commander… Detective, if I'm not wrong about your characters, the whole situation will get out of control sooner or later," the older man answered, his weapon still trained on his three prisoners. "It probably will be a sight which is not meant for a tender, feminine soul and I just want to spare Dr. Asano that rather unpleasant view."

His gray eyes darkened dangerously as he finally lost his famous patience. "I'll say it exactly one more time," Baines hissed testily. "I promise to not hurt you, Dr. Asano, but you have to join me right now or our deal is off." Locking eyes with the dark haired woman, he added more softly, "I kept my promise before, didn't I?"

After a long moment of silence, Gabby slowly emerged from behind her two protectors. Her right hand searched for Danny's left hand, tightly intertwining their fingers.

"Gabby, no…" Danny said pleadingly, wishing nothing more than pull her back but the look in her eyes told him that she had already made her decision.

"It's okay, Danny, I believe him," she whispered, trying to hide the fear that she was feeling. "Just make sure that you stay safe." Her gaze briefly flickered to Steve. "You too," she said, receiving a sharp, respectful nod from the former SEAL. Forcing a smile onto her lips, Gabby let her eyes travel back to Danny as she repeated, "Stay safe, okay?"

After one last squeeze she let go of Danny's hand, hesitantly walking towards the row of bars. She didn't dare to turn around, not wanting to see the pained expression on Danny's face. Just as she came to a halt in front of Baines, only separated by the steel covered bars, Danny's angry voice filled the air.

"If you lay so much as a finger on her, I swear I'll kill you!" Williams forced out through gritted teeth.

"Ah yes," Baines sighed, dismissively waving his free hand. "I remember that you said that before."

Smiling at Danny's furious scowl he pulled a sliver key from his pocket, probably to open the door for Gabby to exit the cell.

Steve tensed his muscles. This might be the best – if not the only – chance they got to overpower Baines. Without moving McGarrett scanned the room once more. Beside him he felt Danny holding his breath, obviously his partner also sensed the tension of the moment.

There was no plan at all, Steve didn't know what would happen or which opportunities would present themselves to him. He just knew that he would take them, immediately and ruthlessly. And he knew that whatever he'd do, he could absolutely trust Danny to be his backup.

Steve's eyes narrowed when Baines put the key into the keyhole and turned it around.

His whole body was tingling in anticipation, only a few more seconds. He still wasn't sure what he'd do. He just would have to rely on his instincts.

Perhaps he'd push Gabby out of the way? Or he would jump on Baines? Maybe slamming the steel door directly in the man's face?

The door lock sprung open with an audible click that sounded forebodingly in the tiled room.

Paul Baines raised his left hand and pushed open the door, just enough for Gabby to fit through.

Steve felt a wave of adrenaline flow through his system, knowing instinctively that Danny was probably sensing it too. Now was the time to act.

McGarrett gathered all his energy and shifted his whole concentration to the task at hand. His fingers twitched slightly, the tension in the room was almost palpable.

"Don't even think about it, Commander."

Baines voice was low, and if the cold undertone alone would not have stopped every upcoming action, surely the unmistakable sound of cocking a gun would have had the desired effect.

"If you try anything stupid, my first target will be Dr. Asano's forehead," Baines said, raising his right arm to point his weapon at exactly that spot.

Steve's head jerked up, he locked eyes with the older man as he felt a slight tremor run through his body. For a short moment he thought about darting forward, putting all his pent up energy in that one move.

The expression on Baines' face told him that he'd never make it but it was Danny's choked "Steve, please… don't!" that finally tipped the scales.

Grudgingly McGarrett forced himself to relax, the sudden dump of adrenaline left him empty and little bit shaky on his legs. He just could watch absently how Baines smirked contentedly, pushing a trembling and softly sobbing Gabby out of the room.

**(tbc)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

"Damn," Steve exclaimed frustrated, whirling around to bang his fist against the tiled wall. "We came so close."

"We came so close?" Danny retorted, his voice wavering between anger and panic. "We came so close to lose Gabby, that's what we came."

Staring silently at Steve for a long moment, Danny finally ran a shaky hand over his hair.

"Oh God," he muttered hoarsely, slowly sliding down onto the floor, his back against the cold, white wall. He looked up at his partner, a pained expression in his blue eyes. "I know we had to try, Steven, but that was much too close for my liking."

He breathed out shakily, fiercely rubbing both hands over his face. For a few seconds, Williams hid his eyes behind his hands before he sighed deeply, letting his hands drop into his lap.

"What do we do now?" he asked, throwing an inquiring look at his partner who was agitatedly pacing their cell. "And would you please stop pacing? That's really getting on my nerves."

Steve briefly interrupted his nervous steps, turning his head to return the look. Noticing Danny's worn out posture, he swallowed down the sharp response he had on the tip of his tongue.

"How are you doing?" he asked instead, leaning his back against the bars as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Excellent," Danny answered sarcastically. Remembering Steve's former state of health he immediately threw the question back at his friend. "What about you? No more nausea?"

"No, I'm good," McGarrett replied swiftly and for once he really meant it. The surge of adrenaline had apparently helped to chase away the last aftereffects of Baines' drug, he really felt good.

Staring at his partner for a long moment, Danny finally nodded sharply. "So, what do we do now?" he repeated his former question as he struggled back to his feet.

Banging his fist against the bars behind him, Steve answered with a little shrug of his shoulders, "I fear there's not much we can do right now."

"Oh, you think so?" Danny tossed in, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me it's above your classified SEAL capabilities to break a simple steel door with your bare hands."

Ignoring Danny's comment, Steve continued quietly, "All we can do is wait for Baines to return. Once he's back I hope we can find a way to overcome him. I suggest that we take every tiny chance we get. Otherwise we can just sit here and wait until someone finds us." He briefly interrupted himself, grinning smugly at Danny, "By the way, you won't believe it, but I actually called for backup this time."

A moment later the grin dropped from his lips as he ran a hand through his hair, "Not that it did much good, because the fact that HPD is not here by now tells me that they obviously don't know where we are. And with Baines' plan to use us as guinea pigs for his latest experiments we probably won't have the time to sit around and wait for rescue."

"Oh, isn't that just fabulous?" Danny asked, glaring hatefully at the two cameras in the corners of the room. "That's all I ever dreamt of, being the test object for a mad scientist. That's great, that's just great. Why is it that we always run into these kind of people? Why can't we meet someone normal, nice and mentally healthy, just for once?"

Sucking on his lower lip for a moment, Danny finally caught Steve's eye. "Do you think Gabby is alright?" he murmured hesitantly after a few seconds, his voice low and hoarse with worry.

"I think so," Steve nodded reassuringly. "If Baines had planned to kill her, he wouldn't have bothered to bring her here."

"That really doesn't help to reassure me but thanks for the attempt," Danny said with a little sigh. The concern for his girlfriend weighed heavy in his heart, but he couldn't let his emotions gain the upper hand. He needed to be calm and focused at all time if they wanted to take their slim chances to escape Baines' prison.

"Okay Commander SuperSEAL, what's the plan?" he asked, pushing the worry for Gabby's well-being to the back of his mind. He grinned wryly, giving Steve a sloppy salute as he said, "Detective Williams reporting for duty."

Steve shook his head in slight amusement, but just as he opened his mouth to give an answer, the door creaked faintly and Paul Baines strolled back into the room, a gentle smile on his lips, his gray eyes sparkling in anticipation as he looked at his two prisoners.

* * *

To say Kono was frustrated would be the understatement of the century. Angrily tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear, Kono breathed out a deep sigh as she turned around.

Leaving the big computer table behind, she slowly limped through the Five-0 headquarters, leaning heavily on her crutch with every step she took. She really hated that damn thing but without it she wasn't able to walk because every step sent an almost unbearable spike of pain through her right leg, a clear sign that she should rest and elevate the injured leg rather than standing on it for hours and hours.

The pain brought back unwelcome memories of the fateful accident that had ruined her surf career so many years ago. Clenching her jaw, Kono forcefully bit back those thoughts, not willing to dwell on old times.

She slowly walked over to Steve's office, silently pushing open the door. A gentle smile crept across her lips when she took in the small shape. Grace was sleeping peacefully on the couch, one arm wrapped around a pink and green plush turtle, the other one around one of Danny's spare T-shirts that Kono had found in his locker.

Kono knew that it was far from ideal to have brought Grace with her, but she had promised Danny to look after his daughter. There was no way she could have left her back on Molokai, the only possibility had been to take the little girl with her.

The stress of the nightly flight and all the adventure and excitement of the last few days had obviously taken their toll on Gracie. She had fallen asleep the very same second Kono had laid her on the couch a few hours ago.

Gently stroking the sleeping girl's head, Kono silently hobbled out of the room. Pouring herself a fresh cup of strong, black coffee, she returned to the smart table in the middle of the entrance hall. Bending over the display she desperately skimmed once more through all the information on the screen.

Somewhere in all those files related to Baines there must be a hint, the tiniest of signs where the man had taken Steve and Danny.

Kono sighed exhaustedly, rolling her shoulders to release a bit of the tension that was increasing inside her with every passing second. There must be something – anything – that would help her find her missing colleagues.

* * *

"Where's Gabby?" Danny asked hoarsely before Baines even had completely closed the door behind him.

Turning around agonizingly slowly, Baines stared at the younger man for a long time, obviously enjoying the growing anger and impatience as he waited for an answer. The mocking smile on Baines' face brightened when he unconsciously clicked his tongue as it was his habit, noticing that the sound seemed to annoy Danny even more. He giggled quietly, folding his hands behind his back as he finally replied, "You really care for her, don't you? And I can see why, Dr. Asano is a beautiful and sophisticated woman, perhaps a bit too young for me, but who knows…" His voice trailed off, but the innuendo of his words hovered heavily in the air, making Danny growl in fury.

"Hey Danny, easy, it's alright," Steve intervened, placing a calming hand on his partner's shoulder while he glared menacingly at Baines. "All he's doing is trying to upset you, just ignore him, okay?" McGarrett murmured, his words accompanied by a brief squeeze of Danny's shoulder. He waited until he felt his friend slightly relax beside him, then he turned his complete attention toward their captor.

Straightening to his full height he drew a small circle in the air with his free hand as he asked coldly, "Where are we here? What is all this?"

"Oh, you don't like your accommodation?" Baines replied, letting his gaze travel across the white tiled room. "You see, I had to improvise a little bit after our last encounter a year ago."

His hands still tightly folded behind his back, he started again pacing at the other side of the bars. "My experiments on my new synthetic drug had almost finished," he explained softly, his eyes taking on a faraway look as he remembered the time when he had still been the respected head of Imperial Cosmetics. Baines' face briefly contorted into an angry grimace, his voice becoming unusually sharp when he continued, "But then these stupid employees of mine with their antiquated moral values went to HPD and told them about my studies." Slightly shrugging his shoulders, he murmured derogatively, "What can I say… they had to pay for their insubordination."

Turning around to face Steve and Danny, the older man seemed to have regained his composure, showing them his usual, gentle smile. "Anyway, after I lost my company I had to find a new place for my laboratory, especially after the one on Molokai at my mother's place also was unavailable. It cost me almost six months to re-establish my studies. But eventually I found this nice, quiet place here with enough room for a spacious laboratory and for this special cell here. I invested a lot of time and money to rebuild everything according to my vision." Locking eyes with Danny, Baines deliberately clicked his tongue, smirking when he noticed the hateful glimmer in the younger man's eyes.

"If you're seeking revenge, why didn't you just kill us?" Williams asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets so that Baines couldn't see his clenched fists, trembling from pent up anger. "Why all the hassle to kidnap us and bring us here?"

"As I said before, Detective," Baines answered quietly, once more clicking his tongue on purpose. "I have other plans for you. After all I need some volunteers to test my new drugs and I think two healthy young men like you would be perfect. But don't worry, I'm quite confident that in the end neither of you will survive."

"You," Danny replied forcefully, "are absolutely insane, you know that, right?"

"For once I absolutely agree with my partner," Steve chimed in, briefly grinning at Danny who grimly nodded back once.

"But if you really believe that we'd play along your sick little games without any resistance, then you're even more disturbed than I thought," Danny said lowly, willing himself to remain calm when every single fiber of his body screamed to jump at Baines. "We are certainly not acting as weak-willed human test objects for your crazy studies."

"Oh, but you already did," Baines interrupted, smiling gently as he let his gaze travel from Danny to Steve. "Or at least the Commander did."

Keeping silent for a moment, Baines smile grew brighter as he watched the annoyed expression on Steve's face. "It's a shame that I wasn't able to watch the aftereffects firsthand. I guess in the meantime you found out that I was responsible for your little… _accident_… at the parking lot last week?"

Steve narrowed his eyes but before he was able to utter his thoughts, Baines continued, his soft voice reverberating eerily in the tiled room, "I had one year to plan everything, one year to watch you and your bizarre shopping habits…"

Despite the situation they were in, Williams couldn't help but snort amused by that statement, which brought him not only a raised eyebrow from Baines but also an exasperated scowl from McGarrett. Danny smirked briefly at his partner before he waved his hand through the air, gesturing Baines to go on.

"I'd never have believed that it would be so easy to lure you away from your shopping bags and to replace the tube of toothpaste. You won't believe how surprised I was when I discovered that your favorite brand is actually my own creation." Cocking his head a little to the right, he started to giggle to himself, "I never thought about it that way, but you virtually helped to finance my studies by buying this toothpaste."

Giggling madly a few more seconds, Baines suddenly sobered, throwing a quick look at his watch. "As much as I would love to keep on chatting with you, I fear my time is limited, Gentlemen," he stated matter-of-factly. Closely eyeballing Steve, the older man said, "I guess you probably wouldn't describe the effects that my drug had on you, would you?"

"Well, that's sad but to be honest it really doesn't matter, because I was already able to watch your reaction to another of my mixtures," he added, fishing a small object out of his pocket.

Steve and Danny involuntarily took a step back from the bars when they noticed the black spray flask in Baines' hand. They had both suffered the effects of whatever it was Baines was keeping inside the small bottle and they were certainly not eager to repeat that experience anytime soon.

Gleefully rolling the item between his fingers, Baines said reassuringly, "Oh, don't worry, I have something else for you. I was very pleased to see that the synthetic carrier I have developed indeed worked as was intended. I have done a lot of research during the last few years and finally found a way to attach almost every available drug to my carrier. With this carrier, I'm not bound to a special way of administration any longer," he explained enthusiastically. "No, the carrier allows me to deliver any drug just as I wish, be it through skin contact or slipped into your food or your toothpaste."

Steve and Danny exchanged a brief look, Baines had just confirmed what Charlie Fong had already assumed a few days before; the drug could indeed be administered in many different ways and Steve and Danny had already experienced quite a few of them.

"But there are still a few ways I haven't had the chance to test yet," Baines said, stowing the spray flask away in his pocket. He grinned ferociously at the two men behind the bars, as far away from their captor as possible.

Rummaging through his other pocket, Baines was interrupted by a loud turmoil from outside the room, muffled shouts and noises could be heard through the closed door.

"What the hell…" Baines murmured angrily as he turned around on his heels. Leaving his two prisoners behind without another word, he rushed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

**(tbc)**


	23. Chapter 23

Is HPD coming? Will our boys be rescued? We'll see...

* * *

**Chapter 23:**

As soon as Baines had left the room, both Steve and Danny darted forward toward the row of bars to be as close to the door as possible.

"Do you think HPD is finally coming?" Danny asked in a whisper, cocking his head and partially closing his eyes as he strained his ears to perceive what was going on upstairs.

"Don't know," came Steve's clipped answer, furrowing his brow as he tried to make out actual words from all the noise."Just shut up for a second, okay?" he hissed, causing Danny to snap his mouth shut.

The two men stood in complete silence as they listened to the shouts and noises, trying to make sense of what they were hearing. The voices seemed to become angrier the longer they listened until suddenly a single shot sounded loudly through the house. There was a short moment of silence, then the noises started again only to trail off once more after a few seconds.

A cold shiver ran down Danny's spine and when it became clear that no more sounds would enter their cell, he slowly turned toward his partner.

"What the hell just happened there?" Williams asked hoarsely, gritting his teeth when another shiver crawled down his back.

"I have absolutely no idea," Steve admitted hesitantly. Locking eyes with Danny he said quietly, "But I don't think that it's the HPD coming."

Holding Steve's gaze for a long moment, Danny finally wrapped his hands around two of the bars, squeezing shut his eyes he leaned forward until his forehead rested against the cold metal. God, he just hoped that Gabby was alright.

Danny deeply breathed in and out a few times before he reluctantly opened his eyes and pushed off from the bars. Tiredly pacing the room he glared again at the two cameras that silently stared back at him without giving a hint about what was going on in other parts of the house. Surveying the plain walls for the umpteenth time since he'd woken up in the tiled room a few hours ago, Danny slowly crossed the small cell until he came to a halt next to his partner.

Steve silently examined the door lock, but he soon came to the decision that without any tools it was plainly and simply impossible to open it. He let his gaze travel across the room but just like Danny he found nothing useful. Puffing out a frustrated sigh, McGarrett turned around, noticing amazed that Danny stared blankly into nothingness, deep wrinkles of concern on his forehead.

"You alright?" Steve asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes when he didn't get an answer. A silent Danny was nothing one got to see every day and as much as Steve enjoyed the silence, the unusual behavior of his partner actually freaked him out a little bit.

"Hey Danny, you alright?" Steve repeated louder than before as he stepped into Danny's line of vision to catch the other man's attention.

Blinking bewildered a few times Danny briefly locked eyes with McGarrett before he heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his hands across his face. "Yeah, I'm fine," he murmured tiredly. "Any luck with the door lock?"

"No," Steve answered, clipped. Taking in Danny's worn out posture he asked suspiciously, "What's suddenly wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Danny replied listlessly, dismissively waving his right hand.

"Nothing?" Steve repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. "Come on, Danny, you look like you've seen a ghost."

A hint of anger glimmered in Danny's eyes when he raised his head to look at his partner. "You really need to ask what's wrong? Seriously, Steven, what's wrong? You mean other than the fact that we are held hostages by a madman who's already killed I don't know how many people and nobody knows where we are?" Danny ranted, his hands sharply cutting through the air in front of him. Staring at Steve for a long moment, Danny finally exhaled audibly before he said quietly, "Jeez, McGarrett, I'm worried about Gabby, okay?"

"Oh," Steve answered sheepishly, which brought him an exasperated eye-rolling from his partner. "Gabby will be alright, okay?" he added after a short moment of thinking, grabbing Danny's left arm to emphasize his words.

"You said that before," Danny hissed through gritted teeth. "And Steven, for heaven's sake, would you please stop pinching my arm. That hurts!" Slapping away Steve's hand, Danny carefully massaged his upper arm where Andrew Creek's bullet had hit him only a few days ago.

"Danny, sorry, I didn't mean…" Steve immediately apologized but before he was able to finish the sentence Danny waved him off with a short flick of his wrist.

"It's okay," he said, briefly grinning at the taller man. "So, do we have a plan?" he asked matter-of-factly as he raised his eyebrows, assuming that his partner had probably already mapped out every tiny detail of an incredibly crazy and dangerous escape plan.

"I thought you'd never ask." Returning the grin, Steve started to explain, "First of all we should try to keep Baines' attention fixed on us. The more he's busy with us down here, the less time he has to do anything to Gabby."

"I like the part that takes Gabby out of the focus," Danny agreed swiftly with a nod of his head. "However I'm more worried about the part where that bastard is totally concentrated on us. But go on, what else?"

"Not much," Steve breathed out grumpily. "As I said before, I suggest that we take the first available opportunity to jump at Baines. Aside from that let's stay as far apart as possible from each other, that makes it much more complicated for Baines to control us."

"Okay, I'd be glad to! The farther I'm away from you, the less collateral damage I have to expect," Danny agreed with a wink, immediately walking over to the other side of the room while Steve also made a few steps away from Danny.

"And now? What do we do now?" Williams asked, leaning back against the cold wall.

"Now we wait," Steve replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he also leaned against the white tiles.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of waiting, only interrupted by some casual snippets of conversation, Paul Baines finally came back, a gun tacked into the waistband of his pants, and a small orange plastic box in his hand.

Quietly closing the door behind him, Baines quickly scanned the room, smiling indulgently when he noticed the amount of space between his two prisoners. "Gentlemen, I'm not stupid. Please move closer together," he instructed patiently.

"So much for your brilliant plan, Steven," Danny murmured under his breath, fortunately too low for Baines to understand.

Reluctantly stepping closer to his partner, Danny remembered Steve's suggestion from before, thinking about the best words to keep Baines' focus away from Gabby. Talking had never been a problem for Danny and so he just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Oh, it's you again. How boring." Closely eyeballing their captor, Danny shook his head in disappointment, "No breakfast? It's really lousy room service here." Turning his head toward his partner, he continued, "I think we need to talk to the manager about this, what do you think, babe?"

Steve had to suppress a grin when he heard Danny's stomach rumble at the mention of the word 'breakfast'. He slightly shook his head, only Danny would think about something to eat in a situation like theirs.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know that, right?" Danny asked as if he was able to read Steve's thoughts.

Staring at Williams for a long moment, Baines' gray eyes sparkled with hidden amusement. Ignoring Danny's ramblings about room service and breakfast he picked up on his earlier remark. "You think I'm boring?" Baines asked, clicking his tongue on purpose just because he knew that Danny hated that little tic. "Well, Detective, I'm sure the boredom will soon wear off."

"At least the entertainment has to be promising if the breakfast and the accommodation suck," Danny retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah," Steve chimed in, looking defiantly at Baines. "Can we finally start with the action? Danny's right, it's really pretty boring in here."

If they went on like this, maybe Baines would be stupid enough to make an error, anything that gave them the opportunity to try an escape. But obviously Baines was too smart to fall for their trick. He just looked amused from one man to the other, listening patiently to their chatter.

Taking advantage of a short break, Baines locked eyes with Danny. Clamping the small plastic box under his arm he pulled a familiar black spray flask out of his pocket. Holding it loosely in his fist he asked quietly, "Don't you want to ask about your girlfriend?"

Trying to hide his concern for Gabby, Danny only slightly narrowed his eyes as he said coolly, "You promised she'd be fine…"

"And you're a man of honor, aren't you?" Steve interrupted, his voice icy and sharp, hoping that the tone of his voice made clear that there would be consequences if something happened to Gabby.

"I did promise not to hurt her, that's indeed correct," Baines said slowly, looking pensively at the small bottle in his hand. A smile played around his lips as he continued, "But that was before Dr. Asano attacked one of my aides and tried to escape."

For the length of a heartbeat it was deadly silent in the room, one could easily have heard the proverbial pin drop.

"What did you do?" Danny growled, clenching his fists to prevent his fingers from trembling when he remembered the sound of the gunshot they'd heard earlier.

"Well, unfortunately I had no other choice," Baines said nonchalantly. "I'm sure you can understand where I'm coming from. I had no other choice than to shoot…"

"You bastard!" Danny exclaimed, rushing toward the older man in a blind fury. Gripping the bars with both hands, he squeezed so tightly that a dull pain shot through his fingers. He was so focused on Baines, all his thoughts concentrated on what the man in front of him possibly could have done to Gabby.

"What have you done?"

Danny winced when Steve's voice sounded directly next to him, he hadn't noticed that his partner also stepped forward.

"What have you done to Gabby?" Steve repeated menacingly, looking daggers at the older man.

Sneering at his two enraged prisoners, Baines said gently, "Oh, I just made sure that our beautiful doctor won't pull another attempt to escape."

Wrapping his fingers tighter around the bars to keep himself upright, Danny took a deep, shuddering breath. His whole body trembled slightly with suppressed anger as well as with genuine fear for the woman he loved. "What did you do?" he asked again, his voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

Baines remained silent for an agonizingly long moment, obviously enjoying Danny's suffering to the fullest. "Unfortunately I had to sedate her," he said finally, playing again around with the black flask in his hand. "I cannot allow for something like that to happen again."

Blinking a few times, Danny needed another moment until he fully realized the meaning of Baines' words. "Sedate her…" he stuttered hesitantly, feeling Steve's reassuring presence next to him. "You mean you didn't… but… what about the shot we heard?"

"I have no need for an obvious incapable aide," Baines sighed dismissively. "So I had to get rid of him." Smiling sardonically he said, "Well, now that Dr. Asano is _resting_ peacefully, she won't need a guard anyway, at least for the next few hours."

"You sick sonofabitch," Danny snarled, speechless with rage about Baines' actions.

"How about you finally open that fucking door and we sort out the matter once and for all?" Steve tossed in, as equally outraged as his partner.

"Gentlemen, please mind your words, I cannot tolerate such ill manners in my house," shaking his head ever so slightly, Baines smiled gently. "And I would suggest you both step back a little bit from the bars if you're not eager to share Dr. Asano's fate," he said softly, raising his right hand to show the two men the black spray flask.

Steve and Danny hesitated for a split second before they reluctantly did what Baines suggested, not willing to repeat their former experience with one of Baines' drugs.

"Now, that's better," Paul Baines uttered contentedly with a click of his tongue when Steve and Danny moved backward as far as possible.

Stowing the little flask away in his pocket, he instead took the orange plastic box that was still clamped under his arm. Crouching down in one swift move he put it silently onto the floor. The box fitted perfectly in between the bars and with a well measured push he shoved it into the cell where it came to a halt directly in front of Steve's feet.

Straightening himself to his full height, Baines smiled gently at Steve as he pulled the gun from the waistband of his pants. Slowly raising his right hand, pointing the weapon at his two prisoners, he ordered quietly, "Would you please open the box, Commander?"

Suspiciously narrowing his eyes, Steve folded his arms in front of his chest without bothering to pick up the item. His gaze darted from Baines to the small box and back before he asked, "What's in there?"

Cocking his weapon with an audible click, Baines gray eyes grew cold. "Commander, I warn you. I am usually a very patient man, but at the moment I'm tired of your games," he said sharply. Pointing his gun at the box on the floor, he repeated angrily, "Open it up… now!"

The sudden change in Baines' tone sent a chill across the room, making the hairs on Danny's neck stand up. Watching the older man for a few seconds, he noticed the slight twitching of his fingers around the weapon and the obvious fury in his expression.

"Steve, please… open up the box, okay?" Danny murmured urgently, slightly nudging his partner to do as he said. "Don't provoke him to do anything stupid."

Turning his head to look at his friend, McGarrett locked eyes with Danny and after a deep breath he finally nodded once in defeat. With a last glare at Baines he bent down and gingerly picked up the small box, anxious to only touch it at the exact same place where Baines had touched it before.

"Very prudent, Commander," the older man said with a smirk as he noticed Steve's behavior. "But I can assure you that the box itself isn't contaminated with one of my mixtures. I think I told you that I wish to try some new ways and we already know that the administration via skin contact is working perfectly."

Glaring at Baines, Steve couldn't prevent the shiver that ran down his spine when he remembered the weird feeling and the tingling of his palms after he had touched Baines' jacket the evening before. The man was capable of anything and the more Steve learned about him, the more dangerous he seemed to become. Putting on what he hoped was a stoic expression, he held the eye contact a few seconds longer before he slowly opened up the box with his right hand while balancing it awkwardly on the other palm.

"And now what?" Steve asked, staring defiantly at Baines while he felt Danny nervously fidgeting next to him. The small syringe inside the box, filled with about 2 ml of a clear liquid, looked harmless, the attached needle glistened faintly in the bright light that shone from the three neon tubes on the ceiling.

"I want you to take the syringe and inject yourself," Baines instructed patiently, still aiming his weapon at the two men in front of him.

"That's certainly the last thing I'd do," Steve replied promptly, forcefully shutting the lid of the plastic box.

"I said," Baines repeated slowly, his voice dangerously gentle, "take the syringe and inject yourself."

"And why exactly would I do that?" Steve asked annoyed, clearly unwilling to fulfill Baines' wish.

"Because I say so, Commander," Baines said, slightly waving his right hand with the gun.

"Yeah, right," Steve growled, his fingers tightened around the plastic box as he tensed his muscles. "Dream on."

"I think that will never happen." Danny's voice penetrated the taut silence, causing both Baines and Steve to shift their attention from each other to the smaller man. After a dramatic pause a wry grin slowly crept across Williams' lips as he explained, "He's afraid of needles, you know?"

Slightly shaking his head, Steve hissed hoarsely, "Danny, you're not helping here."

"Oh, is that so?" Baines murmured almost at the same time, throwing a curious look at Steve. Raising his eyebrows he added, "Well, I really don't mind if you're afraid of needles or not. I'm saying it just one more time, Commander. Take that syringe and do what I said, I'm sure you'll have no trouble to find a nice muscle to inject yourself."

"No," Steve said coolly as he returned Baines' gaze without flinching, standing tall and proud, the small plastic box still clasped in his hands.

The two men stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, each of them stubbornly persisting in his viewpoint, neither of them willing to yield until very slowly a smile crept across Baines' lips.

"Then it's settled," he said softly as he pensively clicked his tongue, and without further warning he raised his weapon and pulled the trigger.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Mean cliffhanger, I know... sorry about that ;-)  
All of you, have lots of fun tonight and enjoy the season 3 premiere - can't wait to watch it!


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you so much for all the (anonymous) reviews - I really appreciate every single one of them! :-)

I think you're all way too clever for me ;-) ... most of you guessed correctly...

* * *

**Chapter 24:**

"What the hell was that for?"

Danny groaned through gritted teeth, his face contorted with pain as he clutched the bleeding wound on his left shoulder.

"Well, Detective, that's what happens if your partner doesn't obey my orders," Baines replied softly, curiously watching the drops of blood on the white tiled floor. "It's just a little push in the right direction, if you know what I mean."

"And what's the point of that anyway?" Williams asked hoarsely, leaning back against the wall to prevent himself from falling over.

Every single heartbeat sent a wave of fiery pain from the bullet wound through his entire left arm, cold sweat ran down his back soaking his shirt. His legs were trembling from the effort of keeping upright, but Danny would be damned if he gave Baines the satisfaction of seeing him go down.

"Steve's a SEAL, for heaven's sake," Danny exclaimed, putting all of his remaining strength in the glare he threw at Baines. "He was trained to withstand all forms of torture, you stupid idiot. He will never give in and do what you say."

Paul Baines let his gaze travel to Steve who, surprisingly, had remained completely silent ever since Baines had pulled the trigger. Apart from an occasional glare in Baines' direction, McGarrett was totally ignoring the older man, concentrating his full attention on his injured partner. Steve had rushed to Danny's side and was now busy pressing his left hand onto the bleeding wound while at the same time he grabbed Danny's elbow with his other hand, helping his friend to remain upright. His lips were pressed together in one thin line but despite the stoic expression on his face, anger and worry were clearly radiating from every fiber of his body.

"We'll see," Baines replied gently as he tucked his weapon back into the waistband of his pants. "We'll see."

Throwing a brief look at his watch, he pensively clicked his tongue. "I'll give you twenty minutes to think about your behavior, and as soon as I'm back I expect you to be a bit more cooperative, Commander," Baines said, turning around to head toward the exit and with a last mocking smile at his two prisoners he strolled out of the room.

As soon as the door silently closed behind the man, Danny breathed out a pained groan and gave up all pretence of being alright. Squeezing his eyes shut, he let himself slip down until he sat on the cold, blood-splattered floor, leaving a sickening smear of blood on the tiled wall.

"Hey, easy," Steve murmured worriedly, his hand still pressing painfully onto the wound as he closely watched his partner.

Digging his teeth into his lower lip, Danny was obviously trying to calm his ragged breathing and after a moment the short gasps successfully changed into deeper breaths. He opened his eyes and as soon as his gaze fell upon his partner, Danny's brow furrowed in recognition. "What's that face?" he asked, his voice hoarse with suppressed pain. His words soon turned into an agonizing groan when Steve made him bend forward to examine the exit wound high on his back.

"Stop it, that hurts," Danny gasped out as he tried to glare at the taller man although all he could muster was a not very intimidating squint.

"Sorry," Steve said quietly, slowly leaning Danny back against the wall, careful not to cause him further pain. "I think it is a clean through and through, the wound looks pretty superficial, barely more than a scratch."

"Barely more than a scratch?" Danny incredulously interrupted Steve's pathetic attempt at humor. "Then let me tell you, Steven, that no matter how superficial it looks, it still feels like someone is trying to rip out my whole arm at once."

Answering the mini rant with a brief grin, McGarrett otherwise ignored Danny's interjection as he continued, "Maybe your collarbone is fractured, but as far as I can tell no major blood vessels or nerves are hit. Do you have any weird sensation in your left arm or hand? Can you wiggle your fingers?"

"Do I have any weird sensation in my arm?" Danny repeated, staring at his partner in disbelief. "You mean weirder than the pain from the huge gunshot wound in my shoulder? Isn't it enough that the bastard shot me and that I'm bleeding like a pig all over the floor?"

Slightly rolling his eyes, Steve answered amused, "As long as you're able to talk that much, I'm sure you'll be alright, Danno."

Narrowing his eyes, Williams glared at his partner before he slowly raised his left hand. "Do you want me to show you how much I'm able to wiggle my fingers?" he asked, flipping the bird at Steve, before he let drop his hand back in his lap with a pained grimace.

"Very nice, Danny, really," Steve replied grinning, but he soon became serious when he once more examined the gunshot wound. Noticing the beads of sweat on Danny's forehead and the pallor of his skin, he asked quietly, "Hey, partner, how are you doing? You alright?"

Taking a few deep breaths, Danny locked eyes with Steve as he tiredly nodded his head, "It just hurts like a bitch, but I think it's actually not that bad. Is it still bleeding?"

"Yeah, quite a bit," McGarrett answered, for a moment pondering his next steps. Smirking at his partner he began to unbutton Danny's blue striped dress shirt but as soon as he touched the first button, Danny firmly slapped his hand away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing there, Steven?" Danny hissed angrily, scowling about the amused expression on Steve's face.

"I need something to stop the bleeding," Steve explained patiently, shrugging his shoulders. "And since your shirt is already ruined, it would be the most logical solution to use it. But if you insist, I can take off my own shirt…" His voice trailed off when he heard Danny's annoyed sigh.

"God, no, you caveman. Keep your clothes on, just for once," Williams said with a small wave of his right hand, laboriously starting to unbutton his shirt.

"I knew you'd agree," Steve replied smugly, knowing better than to offer Danny his help. He waited impatiently until Danny was finished, then he asked quietly, "Can you lean forward so I can remove your shirt?"

Danny pushed himself off the wall, clenching his jaw when Steve cautiously maneuvered his arms out of the sleeves and a new wave of pain rolled through his body.

"If you tell anyone that you stripped off my clothes, I swear to God, I'll kill you, Steven," he forced out, unsuccessfully trying to bite back the pained groan that had built up in his chest.

"Sorry," Steve said again as he wadded up the shirt and pressed it tightly against the wounds on Danny's shoulder.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Danny tried to block out the pain, breathing deeply in and out through his nose. Surprisingly enough it worked pretty well and after a few minutes he felt the pain retreat to a more bearable level. Opening his eyes, he looked pensively at Steve, who seemed to be caught in his own train of thoughts, oblivious to Danny's gaze on him.

"Were you serious when you told me you had called for backup?" Williams wanted to know, turning his head as he tried to catch a glimpse of the wound in his shoulder.

"Don't move," Steve instructed when he felt Danny fidget beneath his hands. "I think it has almost stopped bleeding."

"Good," Williams replied with a little sigh. "So, were you serious about the backup?"

Smiling proudly, Steve nodded once. "I called Duke and I ordered a SWAT team before I went into Gabby's apartment. They were only a few minutes behind, I have actually no idea how Baines managed to get away without bumping into them."

"If he only had such a small lead, I'm sure he'll have made some kind of mistake and left something, a hint, anything that'll help the police find us," Danny said confidently, locking eyes with his partner. "Listen Steve, what I want to say is… when Baines comes back, please don't do anything stupid, okay? We can sit this out until someone finds us. Don't even think of giving in and using that syringe on yourself, okay?"

Noticing the expression on his partner's face, Danny ignored the pain in his shoulder and bent slightly forward, grabbing Steve's arm to emphasize his words, "Do you hear me? Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Steve gaze flickered toward the small orange plastic box that contained said syringe and whatever it was Baines wanted him to inject. He was definitely not eager to be the guinea pig for Baines' experiments, but he also couldn't let his partner suffer. But at the moment they plainly and simply had no other choice, it was either him or Danny. And while he was pretty sure that Baines didn't plan on killing Danny off that easily he wasn't so convinced that the drug inside the syringe was harmless. After all, every single one of the other victims who had come in contact with Baines' drug was now dead.

"You think you can handle whatever Baines is going to do to you?" Steve asked quietly, unsure if he himself was able to handle the situation. Danny had been right when he had told Baines earlier that Steve had been trained to withstand all forms of torture. And even if it was not easy to endure physical torture, with enough willpower and the right techniques almost every kind of pain could be blocked out. But the cruelest form of torture was not physical but emotional – seeing someone suffer without being able to do anything about it…

Taking a deep breath, McGarrett tried to stop that spiral of thoughts, but suddenly long forgotten memories flooded his mind, memories of one particular SEAL mission where literally everything had gone FUBAR from the very beginning. In the end Steve had been forced to stand back and watch when one of his team members had been beaten and shot and finally killed. At that time he had almost broken under the emotional pressure and now it was a thousand times worth, because now it was not about a fellow SEAL, a tough, well-trained sailor. No, now it was about Danny, his partner and his best friend, and he could never willingly do anything that harmed him.

"I hope so."

Steve winced slightly when Danny's voice interrupted his dark thoughts, firmly shaking his head to banish those unwelcome memories from his mind.

"Duke is a capable policeman, he'll leave no stone unturned to find us," Danny said as he noticed the bleak expression on Steve's face. "HPD will be here before anything else happens and then Baines will finally get what he deserves. He will rot in prison for everything he did."

Once more squeezing Steve's arm, Danny repeated sternly, "Whatever happens, don't use that syringe, do you hear me, Steve?"

Breathing out a deep sigh, Steve locked eyes with his partner, holding the gaze for a long moment. "Yeah, okay," he finally agreed. "I won't."

"Good," Williams replied contentedly. Briefly squeezing his eyes shut and taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the upcoming task. "And now help me stand up, I don't want to give that bastard the satisfaction to see me sitting in a pool of my own blood," he said, motioning Steve to give him a hand.

Pulling Danny to his feet, Steve remained close to his friend, giving him all the support he might need. The wound had finally completely stopped bleeding, but judging from the deep lines of discomfort on Danny's forehead, he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Knowing from experience Steve figured that the bullet wound itself probably hurt like a bitch but noticing the strange way that Danny held his left arm he was now pretty sure that his collarbone was indeed fractured.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit back down?" McGarrett asked, tightening his grip around Danny's arm when he felt the smaller man swaying slightly on his feet.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Danny took a few deep breaths until the feeling of dizziness disappeared. Shaking his head, the ghost of a smile crept across his lips as he looked at his partner, "Hey, I'm a Williams. We don't get down from a simple gunshot wound."

"That's the spirit," Steve replied, nodding grimly as he squeezed Danny's arm. Throwing a brief look at his watch, he said lowly, "Time is almost up."

And before the last syllable of his sentence had faded away, the door opened with a high-pitched creak.

Feeling Steve tensing next to him, Williams took another deep breath to prepare for whatever was going to happen next. Closely watching their captor Danny wondered if that man ever wiped that stupid, gentle smile from his face.

"Gentlemen," Baines said softly, clicking his tongue.

The sound made Danny's blood boil and he almost forgot the pain in his shoulder when he angrily clenched his jaw. He was sure that the next time the man made that fricking sound, he wouldn't be able to hold back. He visualized minutely how he would very slowly close his fingers around the older man's neck, effectively cutting off the ability to make any more annoying noises. Smirking at that satisfying thought Danny almost missed Baines' next words.

"Have you changed your mind, Commander McGarrett?" Baines asked politely, staring down at the gun in his hands.

Exchanging a quick look with his partner, Steve took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "No," he said, his voice sounding loud and clear in the tiled room.

Heaving a deep sigh which was half disappointed and half relieved, Baines looked up from his weapon. "That's what I thought," he said slowly, cocking his head a little bit to the right. "In this case, much to my chagrin, you leave me no other choice…"

His voice trailed off as he raised his gun and turned toward Danny. "But because I'm quite enjoying our little conversations, I'll give you another last chance to think about my wish." Noticing the hint of relief on Danny's face he added softly, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but unfortunately I can't spare you some more pain."

Giving Danny a friendly smile, Baines asked, "Where do you want me to aim at?"

"Oh, it's on me to choose?" Danny retorted swiftly. "Well, that's an easy question." Narrowing his eyes he suggested sarcastically, "How about your head?"

"Very quick-witted, Detective," Paul Baines said, only mildly impressed by Danny's answer. "But I don't think that will happen."

Indifferently shrugging his shoulders, Williams replied coolly, "It was worth a…"

The deafening sound of a gunshot effectively cut off Danny's sentence and when the bullet ripped mercilessly through his left thigh, this time even Steve was unable to prevent him from collapsing to the floor.

"You… fucking… bastard," Danny forced out, his hoarse voice almost sounding like a sob.

"I'm giving you another twenty minutes," Baines said, completely ignoring Danny's outburst as he locked eyes with McGarrett. "I hope you have come to your senses by then, Commander, because the idea of a headshot becomes more and more tempting."

And without waiting for an answer Baines turned around and left the cell.

Steve stared after the man for the blink of an eye before he whirled around, turning his full attention to his injured partner. Half lying and half sitting, Danny leaned against the blood-smeared wall, his lips tightly pressed together, his face covered with sweat. He drew in the air in fast, shallow gasps, pressing his trembling hands to the gaping wound on his leg.

Frantically looking around, Steve finally found Danny's dress shirt he had used earlier to apply pressure on the wounds on his shoulder. Batting away Danny's hands he rasped urgently, "Let me see."

Too exhausted and in too much pain to object, Danny simply dropped his hands as he leaned his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, hoping desperately to stop the growing dizziness. Feeling Steve working on his leg, Danny swallowed laboriously as he cracked open his eyes. "How bad is it?" he whispered when he noticed the grim expression on Steve's face.

McGarrett briefly looked up and the raw anguish in his eyes told Danny everything he needed to know.

"Oh," he said breathlessly. "That bad?"

"Can you lift your leg?" Steve asked without answering Danny's question. "I need to apply a tourniquet."

"Can try," Williams offered, but the unusual faint tone of his voice lacked any confidence. With Steve's help he managed to lift his left leg just enough for his partner to slip the shirt underneath.

Quickly knotting together both sleeves, Steve pulled as tightly as possible, causing Danny to groan in pain.

"Sorry," Steve said, placing a reassuring hand on Danny's good shoulder. Squeezing gently, he repeated quietly, "I'm sorry, Danny. I'm so very sorry."

"Not… your… fault," Danny gasped, throwing Steve a look out of pain-filled blue eyes. "For once… not… blaming… you."

Holding Steve's gaze for a moment, Danny blinked sluggishly. He had trouble drawing enough air into his lungs and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. His exhausted mind registered the symptoms of a beginning shock and Steve's worried voice confirmed his assumption only a heartbeat later.

"You're going into shock," Steve said as he grabbed Danny's shoulders and guided him gently into a lying position. Checking that the tourniquet was still in place and doing its work, Steve once more squeezed Danny's shoulder.

"Hey partner, stay with me, okay?" he ordered when he noticed that Danny's eyelids had slowly started to droop.

"Danny," he repeated more firmly, "stay awake, okay? Try to take deep breaths, slowly in and out. Can you do that, buddy?"

Pulling together his last reserves, Danny tried to do what his partner had said. Forcing his eyes open, he fixed his gaze on the other man and after a while it actually became a little bit easier to catch his breath.

"That's good," Steve encouraged him with a nod of his head. "You're doing good, Danny."

Nodding back, Danny licked his dry lips, totally concentrating on the simple task of drawing breath. He didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly remembered the ultimatum Baines had given them.

Clearing his throat, Williams furrowed his brow as he asked hoarsely, "How long until that lunatic asshole is back?"

"Now, now, Detective," a soft voice answered Danny's question. "I think I cannot allow such insulting nicknames in my house," Baines said into the quiet of the room, disapprovingly clicking his tongue.

Feeling Danny fidget beneath his hands, Steve tightened his grip on Danny's shoulder. "Stay down," he murmured soothingly, fully aware of the fact that his partner didn't want to show weakness in the presence of their captor, but right now, sitting up was definitely not an option for his wounded friend.

Despite the makeshift tourniquet Steve had applied, the gunshot wound on Danny's thigh was still bleeding sluggishly. He didn't think that a major artery was hit, otherwise Danny would probably have bled to death by now. At the moment the blood loss was not life-threatening and the first signs of shock were kept at bay, but Danny was far from being alright. Pale and sweating, he looked like death warmed over and Steve wasn't sure how long his friend would be able to maintain his fragile grip on consciousness.

"Stay down," he repeated, gently squeezing Danny's shoulder, nodding contentedly when the injured man finally gave in and relaxed slightly.

Clenching his jaw, McGarrett took a deep breath before he raised his head and stood up from his kneeling position. Paul Baines was standing behind the bars, his hands folded behind his back and an amused expression on his face.

"No more witty comments, Detective Williams?" he asked mockingly. "Well, I must say, you disappoint me, I wouldn't have thought that it is so easy to break your strength."

Turning his head, Danny tried his best to glare at the older man, not an easy task given the fact that he was lying in a pool of blood in the middle of a white tiled cell.

"Fuck you!" he spat out weakly, which brought him only an indulgent smile from Baines.

"Yes, that is very eloquent," Baines replied, deliberately clicking his tongue. He smirked down at Danny for a few more seconds before he turned his attention to his other prisoner.

Baines' gaze briefly flickered to the small orange plastic box that lay forgotten on the floor next to Steve's feet. Bringing his hands to the front, he didn't hesitate to cock the gun that had already caused Danny so much pain. The sound reverberated menacingly in the small room and Baines' face suddenly lost all playfulness when he looked up and locked eyes with Steve.

"Time is up once and for all, Commander," he said coldly, his gray eyes glistening in anticipation. "Either you'll do what I said and use that syringe," Baines briefly pointed his weapon at the plastic box on the floor, "or you can think about a fitting eulogy for your partner." With these words he turned around and aimed directly at Danny's head. A mad smile crept across his lips and Steve could see his index finger twitching around the trigger.

Closely studying the expression on the older man's face, Steve couldn't prevent an icy shiver running down his spine. Pressing his lips together, he slowly turned his head toward his partner. Just as he had presumed, Danny was barely conscious by now. His eyes were half-closed and his breathing rate was much too fast for Steve's liking.

But Danny seemed to feel that Steve was going to do something stupid and with all of his remaining strength he opened his eyes and concentrated on his partner.

"I'm sorry, Danny," Steve said quietly, never breaking eye contact while he bent down to pick up the plastic box. "I have no other choice," he said as he opened the lid and stared down at the small syringe.

"Steve, don't," Danny gasped out, the pain in his eyes now covered by an expression of pure fear for his partner. He tried to sit up, propping himself up on his right elbow but the task proved to be too much and he collapsed back on the floor with a pained groan. "Please, Steven, don't do that," Danny whispered with his last strength before he exhaustedly closed his eyes.

"I have no choice," Steve repeated apologetically, more to himself than actually addressing his partner.

"Okay, enough of all this maudlin talk," Baines impatiently tossed in. "This is my last warning, Commander, I will say it only one more time. I want you to inject yourself, into the muscle and the entire content in one move. If you don't do it or if you try to fool me, our dear Detective here will be dead faster than you can say 'I'm sorry'."

Baines voice trailed off and for a moment nobody spoke, the eerie silence of the room only interrupted by the sound of Danny's labored breathing.

Time seemed to stand still until Baines finally pointed his left index finger at the box in Steve's hand. "Do it now, Commander," he said very softly and Steve suddenly knew for sure that he had lost. He just knew with a certainty that made his skin tingle that Baines would not hesitate to kill Danny if he waited only a second longer.

Without bothering to answer, he shoved all his thoughts and emotions to the back of his mind and mentally prepared for the trial that lay before him.

Ignoring Danny's whispered, "Steve, no!" McGarrett finally took the small syringe out of the box. Involuntarily holding his breath, he tightly clenched his jaw and before he could change his mind he pricked the needle into his left bicep and pressed the plunger down, totally oblivious to the fact that, only minutes ago, Kono had finally found the one, crucial hint that would lead her to Baines' secret hideout.

**(tbc)**


	25. Chapter 25

Thank you so much for all your fantastic reviews! :-)  
Now on with the next chapter...

* * *

**Chapter 25:**

A myriad of thoughts raced through Steve's mind while he stared down at the small, harmless looking syringe in his hands. He hoped that Danny never learned about the fact that he indeed was, well, perhaps not really afraid, but rather not very fond of needles whatsoever – otherwise he would never hear the end of it.

"Steve, no!" Danny whispered somewhere to his left from his position on the floor, but McGarrett knew that he plainly and simply had no other choice.

Willing himself to relax his muscles, Steve held his breath as he rammed the needle into his own arm with a grim determination that surprised even himself, and pressed down the plunger in one swift move.

He had barely time to remove the needle when almost immediately he began to feel the effects of Baines' drug.

A cold and hot burning sensation flooded from the injection site up and down his arm, the syringe and the orange plastic box he had still been holding dropped from his numb fingers and danced almost soundlessly over the white tiled floor.

Trying to take a deep breath to blow away the cobwebs in his mind he sagged back against the cold wall when his legs began to tremble violently.

"Will you sit down already, you moron," Danny's strained voice reached his ears, laced with a tiny bit of anger but above all with worry and open fear.

But before Steve's muddled brain could process Danny's words and transform them into a useful instruction, he felt his legs buckle and he slid down the wall in a less than graceful move.

"Ah, very nice," Paul Baines beamed with joy at the sight of his prisoner. "I never would have imagined the effects would set in so immediately." Tacking the gun into the waistband of his pants, he happily rubbed his hands and watched Steve with growing interest and curiosity. "Very nice," he repeated, clicking his tongue and giggling maniacally under his breath as he stepped closer to the bars to have a better view of his human guinea pig.

Swallowing forcefully, Steve tried to form a coherent sentence but all he could muster was a hoarse, "What… gave me?"

He hadn't the strength to look up at Baines and he almost wasn't able to hear the older man's answer over the buzzing in his ears.

"You want to know what was in the syringe?" Baines correctly interpreted Steve's stammered words. "Well, Commander, it's the very same drug you already took in every day with your toothpaste. And I must say I'm immensely pleased about the effects, especially if administered via injection."

Steve needed a long moment until Baines' words slowly seeped into his consciousness. Nodding faintly, Steve could definitely feel some of the symptoms he unfortunately knew very well from his blackouts over the last few days. But nevertheless this experience now was somehow different from the times before when he quite simply just had passed out from one second to the other.

Desperately trying to stay awake, Steve blinked sluggishly as the world around him began to spin. Every time he forced his eyes open, the room seemed to get darker, gray shadows were slowly creeping into his peripheral vision.

Sitting in a crumpled heap on the cold floor, Steve's whole body was trembling slightly. He wasn't able to move his limbs, every single one of his fingers seemed to weigh at least a ton. McGarrett felt just so damn tired, more tired than he had ever been before in his whole life. Even the simple task of blinking was finally too much and after a while he just didn't bother to open his eyes any more.

Blood was rushing in his ears and there was an uncomfortable tingling in his arms and legs, but the only thing Steve really perceived was the thunderous beating of his heart. The muscle in his chest hammered against his ribs in a painfully slow rhythm. The time between two beats seemed to get longer and longer and suddenly Charlie Fong's words raced through Steve's drugged mind.

… _the worst case scenario we're talking about here might be cardiac arrest…_

For a moment he could hear the words as clearly in his mind as if the young lab technician was standing right beside him, but then the memory faded away as quickly as it had appeared. A heavy darkness filled Steve's thoughts, pressing against his mind as well as his body, giving him the daunting feeling that he was covered in thick, viscous mud from head to toe.

There was darkness and silence all around him, the only anchor to the here and now was the slow beating of his heart, but even that lifeline was getting thinner and thinner with every passing second.

"Steve?"

Danny's anxious voice slowly drifted through Steve's exhausted mind but he just couldn't get his body to react in any way.

"Hey Steve, can you hear me?"

The voice seemed to be closer now, and when cold fingers wrapped around Steve's forearm, he summoned all of his rapidly waning strength and forced his eyes open. McGarrett sluggishly blinked a few times until the blurry shadow in front of him finally assumed the form of his partner.

"Try to stay awake, Steve. Do you hear me? Try to fight the effects, okay?"

Furrowing his brow in concentration, Steve licked his dry lips as he thought about an answer but forming the required words was far beyond his current capabilities.

"Nononono! Open your eyes, Steven, come on, no sleeping here."

Steve's eyes snapped open once more when the grip around his armed tightened and sharp fingernails painfully dug into his skin. He felt his heartbeat quicken just a tiny bit and the heavy veil around his consciousness was lifted slightly. His tired gaze traveled sluggishly across the room until it finally fell upon his partner.

Danny sat right beside him, one hand wrapped around Steve's forearm, the other one pressed to the wound on his own thigh. Narrowing his eyes about the amount of blood that covered the floor around Danny's leg, Steve tried his best to follow Danny's instructions and fight the effects of Baines' drug but to no avail.

As much as he tried to keep his eyes open, his body just plainly and simply wouldn't obey. The world around him turned gray and once more the buzzing in his ears and the hollow beating of his heart drowned out everything else, even the frantic tone of Danny's voice and the sounds of turmoil and shouting from outside the cell.

In the blackness that once again firmly pressed against his mind he could feel his heart beating slower and slower, and he briefly wondered if he would somehow know it if one of those heartbeats would be his last one.

Lingering on that thought and waiting for the next heartbeat that might never be coming, Steve didn't feel his head lolling to his chest nor his body slowly tilting to the right.

* * *

Danny had not shifted his attention from his partner ever since Steve had taken the syringe out of that silly little plastic box. When he finally heard the redeeming shouts of _HPD_ and _Five-0_ from upstairs, all he did was briefly shut his eyes in relief.

But when Williams opened his eyes again after only a short moment, he found Steve no longer in a sitting position leaning against the wall but lying motionless on his right side.

"No, no, no! Come on, Steve, not now," Danny hissed anxiously through gritted teeth. "Cavalry is here, hang on buddy, just a few more minutes, okay?"

Suddenly remembering the EpiPen that was still somewhere in one of Steve's many pockets, Danny tried to move closer to his partner. Baines had said that the drug Steve had injected himself with was the same as was hidden in the toothpaste, so Danny figured that now would be the perfect time to see if Fong's theory about the adrenaline was true. God, he just hoped that now was not that one time in the decade when Charlie was wrong about his findings.

A dull pain sliced through Danny's left thigh when he crawled closer to his friend and a new wave of dizziness rushed over him. Looking down at his injured leg he noticed that the makeshift tourniquet Steve had applied earlier obviously wasn't doing its work anymore. Blood oozed lazily from the gunshot wound, the crimson fluid formed a sickening contrast to the white tiles.

With trembling hands Danny grabbed the sleeves of his alienated dress shirt and pulled the makeshift tourniquet as tightly as possible.

Black dots danced in his vision and he squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to suppress a hoarse groan. He had felt a lot better lying down flat on his back but if he wanted to help Steve, he needed to move. The pain in his leg mingled with the pain that radiated from his shoulder and judging from the sticky feeling of his undershirt those wounds had also started bleeding again.

Damn, it couldn't be so difficult to cross that short distance to his partner, only a few more inches and he would be able to reach Steve's pockets where the – hopefully lifesaving – EpiPen was stowed away.

Danny's breath was now coming in fast, shallow gasps and instead of disappearing, the black dots in front of his eyes grew bigger and bigger. Exhaustedly he leaned his back against the wall, desperately trying to catch his breath. Against his will his eyelids drooped when the world around him started to spin faster and faster.

Clenching his jaw, Williams gathered all of his remaining strength. If he passed out now, Steve's chances of surviving where slim at best. Danny knew that he must somehow find the energy to move his body, search for the EpiPen in Steve's pocket and administer the dose of adrenaline. Dead easy, right?

Danny's eyes snapped open when the door to the room burst open with a deafening noise. For a second he just stared at the two recent arrivals before a huge grin colored his features. And despite the worry for his partner, despite the uncertainty about Gabby's fate and despite the fact that he was sitting in an alarmingly fast growing pool of his own blood and that his whole body was on fire, Danny couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of his two teammates limping through the door.

Her weapon at the ready, Kono was the first who stormed into the room as fast as her injured leg allowed. The young woman still wore the same white bandage as the last time Danny had seen her, covering her right leg from the ankle up to her knee.

Right behind her, Chin Ho Kelly also limped through the door, a grim expression on his face, the trademark shotgun in his hands, and a shining white walking cast on his right ankle and lower leg.

A huge wave of relief washed over Danny and he felt like all the pent up tension of the last hours fled his body, leaving him breathless and shaky. His whole body was trembling violently and he needed all of his willpower to utter a semi-coherent sentence.

"Chin, the key… Baines has it… hurry up…" he exclaimed hoarsely, pointing weakly at the steel door inset in the row of bars. Exhaustedly closing his eyes he tried to take some deep breaths but all he could muster were some shallow gasps that didn't help at all to get rid of the ever growing dizziness. "Hurry up… need help here… Steve…" Danny murmured feebly, his voice trailing off in mid-sentence.

Most probably he might have blacked out for a moment because the next thing he knew was someone shouting his name, loudly and repeatedly.

"Danny!"

Moaning faintly, Danny swallowed laboriously, and furrowing his brow in concentration he finally managed to open his eyes.

"Danny, come on, talk to us," Chin's deep voice encouraged him. Hesitating for a short moment until he was sure that Danny was alert and listening, he asked urgently, "Danny, where is the key? Do you know where Baines is?"

The lines on Danny's forehead deepened in confusion when he let his gaze travel across the room. "He was here…" Blinking rapidly, Danny cleared his throat before he locked eyes with the other man, "He was here the whole time… don't know…" His voice was getting stronger now, the discovery that their captor had obviously somehow managed to get away sent a small rush of adrenaline as well as a surge of anger through his body.

Finally able to take a deep breath, Danny struggled to cope with the dizziness when he resumed his former attempt to get closer to his still motionless partner.

"I'll go upstairs and search for the key," Kono said firmly, already whirling around when Danny's voice held her back.

"Kono, wait! Gabby… she has to be somewhere upstairs… Baines… he drugged her," he said hastily, his blue eyes dulled with worry and pain. "I need to know… make sure she's alright, okay?"

Locking eyes with Danny, Kono threw him a reassuring smile. "Will do, brah," she answered swiftly, holding his gaze for a moment before she turned around on her good leg.

"Hurry up, cuz," Chin said quietly, briefly grabbing her forearm to emphasize his words. "And call EMS."

Sharply nodding her head once, the young woman threw one last worried glance at her two caged team members before she limped out of the room.

Knowing that Kono would do everything to make sure Gabby was tended to, Danny shifted his concentration back to his partner. Agonizingly slowly, he dragged his aching body across the blood-covered tiles, wincing heftily when a loud gunshot filled the air.

Jerking his head to the left he saw Chin closely examining the door lock, his shotgun loosely in his right hand.

"Sorry, didn't work," the older man said without looking up, a wry smile playing around his lips. "Have to try it again."

Narrowing his eyes, Danny looked pensively at his teammate before he asked matter-of-factly, "You know what Sigmund Freud would probably say about your gusto for such a ludicrously big weapon, right?"

The smirk on Chin's face grew a bit bigger and instead of answering he once more cocked his gun and pulled the trigger in one swift move.

The door burst open with an earsplitting metallic screech which reverberated eerily through the empty room. Putting the shotgun to the floor, Chin rushed to Danny's side as fast as his casted leg allowed, grimacing slightly when he kneeled down next to his teammates.

"You're a mess, brah," he said with a brief glance at all the blood that covered not only Danny's clothes but also the white tiled wall and floor. Taking in the other man's pale complexion and the beads of sweat that covered his face, Chin placed his hand on Danny's good shoulder and squeezed sympathetically. "You alright?"

"No," Danny admitted breathlessly, weakly motioning toward Steve's motionless form. "But I can hang on a few more minutes. First we need to make sure that Steve's alright."

"What happened to him?" Kelly asked as he bent over McGarrett, noticing astonished that all the blood on Steve's hands and clothes seemed to be Danny's. Grabbing the taller man's shoulders he cautiously rolled him over onto his back, immediately pressing his fingers to Steve's carotid.

After a few seconds the expression on Chin's usually calm face turned blank, the forlorn shimmer in his dark eyes sent an icy shiver along Danny's spine.

"Chin… no," he whispered, shaking his head in denial as he desperately started to ransack Steve's pockets.

"I can't feel a pulse…" Chin confirmed Danny's worst fear, frantically readjusting his fingers. After a few more excruciating seconds, he finally breathed out a small sigh of relief, "Oh no, wait, there it is. But it's very slow and almost not palpable."

Looking up when he got no reaction from Williams, he furrowed his brow when he saw the smaller man still rummaging through Steve's pockets. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously, confused about Danny's strange behavior.

"Chin, somewhere in his pockets there must be an EpiPen, "Danny replied hoarsely without looking up. If possible, his complexion was even paler than before and he looked like he was ready to pass out at any moment. Danny's face was contorted with pain and judging from the way his hands were shaking he seemed to be in a world of pain. "I'll explain later," Danny added frustrated, throwing a pleading look at his teammate. "Let's just find that damn thing."

Half a minute later, just when Danny swore to himself that he would eliminate every single pair of cargo pants in McGarrett's wardrobe with his own hands, he finally found the EpiPen in the very last pocket he searched.

He needed three attempts until he was able to pull off the safety release with trembling fingers, then he pressed the small device against Steve's left thigh with the last bit of strength he could muster, silently counting the passing seconds in his head.

Finally having reached the ten second mark, Danny carelessly dropped the injector to the floor, exhaustedly sagging against the nearest wall. He swallowed convulsively when the dizziness returned with a vengeance and the pain in his body peaked to a new, unknown level.

Blinking sluggishly he watched almost detachedly how Chin once again checked Steve's pulse. "Chin… is he okay?" Danny slurred, one last time fighting back the tendrils of unconsciousness that slowly crept into his mind.

"Yes brah, I think he is," Chin said after a long moment of silence. "Pulse is much stronger now, I think he's gonna be alright."

"Good… that's good," Danny whispered, closing his eyes as he finally allowed the darkness to take over.

**(tbc)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**

"Kono?" Chin said into his com link, his voice holding an unusual amount of tension. "Do you copy me?"

"Loud and clear, cuz," Kono answered a little breathlessly, she sounded as she was walking quickly. "No luck with the key so far and no sign of Baines. How are Danny and Steve?"

"Forget about the key, I found another way in," Kelly replied quickly as he tightened the blood-soaked dress shirt around Danny's thigh, at the same time having a look at his boss who as well was still out cold.

"Ah, I knew the noise came from your shotgun," Kono said and Chin almost could hear her smile across the line. "Nice."

Slightly shaking his head about his cousin's idea of fun, he pressed his fingers against Steve's neck once more to monitor his pulse. "Where are those paramedics?" he asked urgently, worried about the ongoing unconsciousness of his two teammates. Chin had no idea what happened to Steve, but judging from the lack of injuries and from the empty syringe he'd found in one corner of the room he assumed that Steve most probably had been drugged.

In the short time span between his arrival at Five-0 headquarters and their hasty departure toward Baines' hideout, Kono had tried to quickly fill him in on the events of the last few days but to be honest he hadn't really grasped the full extent of the case.

His gaze fell on the empty EpiPen that Williams had used on Steve, obviously knowing or hoping that the content would get Steve back from the brink of death. So whatever McGarrett had been drugged with, Danny seemed to know more about the substance; a fact that certainly might be helpful in finding the best way to treat him.

Danny on the other hand looked like he had been in a slaughterhouse recently – and on the wrong end of the butcher's knife at that. Chin had seen a lot of ugly things during his time with HPD and Five-0, but the amount of blood on the white tiles and on Danny's clothes actually made him a little sick; even more so because he knew that all of that blood was Danny's.

"EMS just arrived," Kono finally answered Chin's question, breathing a small sigh of relief over the com link. "I'll lead them downstairs."

Only a few seconds later Chin could hear heavy footsteps coming downstairs and before he even turned around two paramedics entered the room.

Cursing the heavy cast on his right leg, Kelly struggled to his feet to give the two men space to work. Placing the gurney and the huge emergency kit they brought with them next to Steve and Danny, they immediately knelt down to check on their patients.

"Only one gurney?" Chin asked, frowning.

"Second ambulance was only a few minutes behind us, our colleagues will be here soon," one of the paramedics, a tall, young man with unruly, curly hair answered curtly. The man whose name tag identified him as Ian Walton, looked up at Chin, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Not really, no," Chin answered apologetically, trying to suppress a frustrated sigh. "It looks like Danny had been shot twice," he said, unnecessarily pointing at the blond detective before he continued. "He passed out about five minutes ago, but before he was responsive and moving around."

Nodding briefly toward his boss, he explained matter-of-factly, "Steve had been unconscious ever since I came in about ten, fifteen minutes ago. I think he might have been drugged. His pulse had been very slow and almost not palpable, but after an injection with the EpiPen," he interrupted himself to show the paramedics the empty device, "his heart rate increased a little bit."

"Okay, thank you, Sir," Ian replied, already busy with installing an IV line to Danny's right arm after he quickly had taken his vitals. "I'm attaching a bag of Ringer's to compensate for the blood loss," he said to no one specific. "Vitals are within acceptable range," he added much to Chin's relief as he pressed the IV bag into the cop's hands. "Would you hold that up, please?"

Doing as he was instructed Chin took the IV bag, shifting his weight from his broken leg as he watched how the paramedic professionally tended to Danny's injuries. Both gunshot wounds on the shoulder and on the thigh were bleeding moderately but they were obviously not bad enough to be a cause for concern because Ian patched them up meticulously but without real hurry.

Without shifting his attention from his patient, the paramedic asked his partner, "Alaka'i, what do you have?"

"No visible injuries, pulse 40 bpm, BP 80 to 50," the second paramedic, a middle-aged, sturdy Hawaiian answered. "I think he's coming around."

And true to his words, Steve's eyelids began to flutter only a moment later.

"Sir, can you hear me?" Alaka'i asked, placing his hand on McGarrett's shoulder. "Can you open your eyes?"

Deep lines formed on Steve's forehead when he slowly fought his eyes open with a hoarse moan. Blinking sluggishly a few times to clear his vision, he swallowed laboriously before his gaze focused on the unknown paramedic that hovered over him.

Tensing his muscles and narrowing his eyes Steve immediately and instinctively switched into fight mode, the change in his posture only visible for someone who knew him very well.

Chin stepped closer, hoping that his presence would help to overcome whatever traumatic experience Steve and Danny had suffered during the last few hours and calm down the agitated SEAL before he accidentally hurt someone.

"Easy, Steve, everything's alright," he said reassuringly literally a split second before the other man started to move. "Relax, brah, everything's fine, just let those nice paramedics do their work."

Steve winced slightly, his gaze darting around until his eyes finally came to rest on his teammate. "Chin," he breathed out faintly, clearly confused about what was happening around him. Relaxing hesitantly, he swallowed again and cleared his throat before asking hoarsely, "What happened?"

Squeezing his eyes shut McGarrett tried to take a deep breath before he raised his right hand, rubbing it across his face with trembling fingers.

"Danny!" he suddenly exclaimed before Chin was able to answer his question, his eyes snapped open as he struggled to get up. "Where's Danny? Is he alright?"

"Sir, please, you have to stay lying down," Alaka'i intervened, gently grabbing Steve's shoulders in an attempt to guide him back down into a lying position.

Totally ignoring the Hawaiian paramedic, Steve managed to sit up, breathing deeply when a wave of dizziness rolled over him. "Is Danny alright?" he repeated, his gaze darting from Danny's still form to the paramedic and further to Chin.

"Both gunshot wounds will probably require surgery, but his vitals are good," Ian answered Steve's desperate question, looking up from his patient. "Your friend will be fine," he reassured, narrowing his eyes when he took in Steve's pale complexion and his breathing which was getting more and more labored with each passing second. "Why don't you lie back down while we do our work?"

Blatantly refusing to take the advice, Steve turned his attention back Chin who just shrugged his shoulders, a wry smile on his lips, "Let him do it his way. He won't lie down until he gets all the answers he's looking for."

"Baines?" Steve asked, clipped, locking eyes with his teammate.

"Looks like he was able to escape," Kelly answered equally curt, shaking his head in frustration.

"Damn," McGarrett whispered, wiping the sweat from his forehead with trembling hands. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed for the first time the white cast on Chin's lower leg. "What happened to your leg?" he gasped out, finding it suddenly hard to breathe.

"Long story, brah," Chin answered, throwing him a concerned look. "Steve, maybe it'd be better if you do what these guys say."

"Your friend's right," Alaka'i said, gently placing his hand on Steve's right shoulder. "I strongly recommend that you lie back down."

"I'm good," Steve replied breathlessly, weakly trying to bat away the paramedic's hand.

"Oh…" he breathed out just a moment later, his face suddenly contorting with pain as he pressed his left forearm to his heart region. "Maybe not…" his voice trailed off as he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to keep the pain at bay.

"Sir, please lie down," the Hawaiian paramedic said urgently, quickly guiding Steve back into a lying position. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" he asked, pressing his stethoscope to Steve's chest and listening concentrated for a moment.

"Chest hurts… can't breathe…" Steve wheezed faintly, his eyes once more snapping open in panic when he wasn't able to draw a proper breath.

"Try to calm down," Alaka'i advised as he quickly strapped an oxygen mask to Steve's face. He once again placed one hand on Steve's shoulder, hoping that the physical contact would help provide some calm, while he motioned with the other hand towards his partner. "Ian, would you draw me up some more adrenaline and maybe a mild sedative," he said quietly, turning his head a little bit to not agitate Steve any further. "And then let's get him to the hospital before his heart rate gets totally out of control." Turning his attention back to Steve, he said gently, "Try to take deep and slow breaths."

"Can't…" McGarrett replied wide-eyed, his breath coming in fast, shallow gasps. The oxygen mask gave him a slight claustrophobic feeling, raising his right hand he tried to slip it off but he was quickly stopped by Alaka'i who gently but firmly took Steve's wrist.

"Yes, you can, the mask will help you breathe," he said, guiding Steve's hand away from his face. "I will also give you something to aid your heart beat more regularly." Nodding a brief thanks to his partner who handed him the requested syringe, Alaka'i turned his attention back to his patient. "You'll feel a little prick, and the drug will make you a bit sleepy. Don't fight it, just try to breathe as calmly as possible. You're in good hands, we have everything under control."

"Second round of paramedics is here," Kono's voice suddenly and unexpectedly interrupted the tense atmosphere as she led two other men into the room.

"Just in time," Alaka'i said as he experiencedly injected Steve with the medication.

Flinching slightly when he felt the needle pierce his skin, Steve tried his best to follow Alaka'i's advice but the raw pain in his chest was something he'd never felt before and hoped he would never feel again. He had been in a lot of dangerous and potentially life threatening situations before, but the pressure in his chest really left him mortally terrified.

But whatever the paramedic had given him seemed to act fast. Steve felt his eyelids slowly droop, breathing became a tiny bit easier and the last thought before he drifted into a drug induced sleep was that at least Danny would be fine.

"Okay, let's get them both to the hospital as fast as possible," Ian said to his two newly arrived colleagues. He and Alaka'i would take care of Steve so he briefly filled them in on Danny's condition while they prepared the two gurneys for transport.

Not even half a minute later, both Steve and Danny were on their way upstairs and suddenly Chin and Kono found themselves alone in the white tiled room where now the blood-covered walls and floor and the small orange plastic box were the only reminders of the ordeal that had happened here recently.

Exchanging a grim look the cousins silently agreed to leave the securing of all evidence to HPD.

"I'll stay with Steve to make sure he stays calm if he comes around again," Chin said concerned about the sudden change in Steve's state of health.

"Then I'll go with Danny," Kono nodded quickly as she turned around and limped out of the room. "See you later at the hospital, cuz."

* * *

Danny's world uncomfortably swayed to and fro and he wasn't sure if opening his eyes really would be a good idea right now. Forcefully swallowing down the beginning nausea he cautiously blinked his eyes open. Furrowing his brow he took in his surroundings; he was in a small, confined room that rocked erratically and he needed a long moment until he identified his whereabouts as the inside of an ambulance.

"Hey Danny, welcome back," he was softly greeted by a familiar female voice and when he turned his head slightly to the right, he noticed Kono sitting by his side, gently smiling down at him.

"Hey," Williams answered hoarsely, raising his head just enough to throw a brief look at his shoulder and his leg before he leaned back with a small sigh. The pain from before was completely gone and he felt a little bit like he was floating a few inches above his own body. Blinking slowly, his gaze fell on the IV line that snaked its way into his right arm and he smiled drowsily, "Whatever is in there, I really like that stuff."

Kono breathed out a small chuckle about the mildly stoned expression on Danny's face. "Looks like they gave you some of the real good stuff, brah," she said, cautiously placing her hand on Danny's good shoulder. Squeezing gently she asked quietly, "How do you feel?"

There was a long moment of silence and Kono had just thought that she wasn't getting an answer when her teammate finally slurred tiredly, "Good, I think." Breathing out a long sigh, Danny shifted his weight a little bit on the hard gurney, "Can't really feel anything."

He found it hard to concentrate long enough on one special thought to transform it into a coherent sentence. Licking his lips, he asked hesitantly, "Is Steve alright?"

Thinking for a moment about the best answer to satisfy Danny but not to upset him, Kono answered with a little nod of her head, "He's in the ambulance right behind us. Don't worry, he's in good hands right now."

In fact Kono had absolutely no idea if McGarrett was alright. When she had come back to the white tiled room, there was quite a bit of hectic action amongst the paramedics and before she even knew what happened, Steve and Danny had been carried upstairs. On the short way up the stairs and to the waiting ambulances Chin had briefly filled her in on Steve's condition and judging from the lines of concern on her cousin's face Kono knew that he was deeply worried about their boss.

Giving Danny another reassuring smile she just hoped that in his current state he didn't notice that she actually had avoided a satisfying answer, but obviously he was happy about her words because he replied softly, "That's good…"

Danny's eyelids grew heavy and he felt himself drifting off again, but there was something else he desperately needed to know. Forcing his eyes open, he pleadingly looked at Kono as he asked anxiously, "What about Gabby? Did you… did you find her?"

The genuine smile that appeared on Kono's face immediately soothed Danny's frayed nerves and he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Gabby's fine," Kono explained while she gently rubbed her thumb across his shoulder. "She was already fully conscious when I found her. They took her to the hospital just to make sure that she's not suffering any unexpected aftereffects. But she is fine and she already asked for you."

Smiling tiredly, Danny turned his head a little bit to the right so that his cheek came in touch with Kono's hand. "Thank you," he whispered before he allowed his eyes to close.

"And there is another little lady that is desperately waiting to see you," Kono added, gently squeezing Danny's shoulder. "I promise to bring Grace as soon as you're allowed to have visitors."

The smile on Danny's face grew brighter for a short moment before his face went slack and he succumbed to an exhausted sleep.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Kono breathed out a deep sigh, leaving her other hand on Danny's shoulder until they arrived at the hospital only a few minutes later.

Watching how the paramedics rolled the gurney with her teammate quickly but without hurry or panic toward the emergency room, she slowly exited the ambulance, grimacing slightly when a jolt of pain shot through her injured, right leg. Gritting her teeth she limped toward a row of seats, deciding that she would wait for the second ambulance with Steve and Chin before she'd go in to complete the necessary forms.

Tiredly closing her eyes, Kono felt like a huge portion of stress had slowly left her body. Ever since she'd seen that jet-ski speeding toward her and Grace a few days ago, she had known that that had been only the beginning of something much bigger.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly through her nose. Rolling her shoulders to get rid of the last bit of tension a relieved smile tentatively crept across her lips.

Grace was fine, waiting safely with Malia at HPD for Kono to pick her up. Gabby was unharmed and in one piece. Chin had only suffered a simple broken leg. Danny and Steve were tended to and would hopefully also recover quickly from whatever Baines did to them.

Kono grimly pressed her lips together when she thought about Paul Baines. Once again the man had managed to escape, but she was sure that Five-0 would be able to hunt him down. This time they knew a lot more about his work and about the way he ticked. And if he only left the tiniest bit of a trace, she was sure they would find him eventually and make him pay for all his crimes.

The young woman looked up when suddenly a flurry of activity emerged around her. A bunch of medical staff came running out of the building and only a heartbeat later the second ambulance came round the corner and stopped right in front of them with screeching tires. The backdoors burst open and before Kono could even jump to her feet, the gurney with Steve was yanked out of the vehicle.

There was a cacophony of shouts and voices and a shiver ran down Kono's spine when she saw one of the doctors jumping onto the gurney. Kneeling next to Steve he hectically started CPR while the others rushed them into the building and out of sight.

The uproar died down as quickly as it started, and despite the sudden quiet Kono barely noticed that Chin slowly crawled out of the ambulance behind her.

"What's happened?" she whispered terrified, staring wide-eyed after the small group of people before she slowly turned around to face her cousin.

"His heart stopped a minute ago," Chin said blankly, wrapping his arms around Kono's trembling body and pressing her tightly to his chest.

**(tbc)**

* * *

Sorry, couldn't resist another cliffhanger... ;-)**  
**


	27. Chapter 27

So, here we are, at the end... Thank you so much for sticking around until now and for all your great reviews. I hope you had fun (I certainly had!) and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

Another huge thank-you to **sherry57** for betaing, I can't say it often enough, you're doing an amazing job! Merci beaucoup! :-) You're the best!

Happy Birthday, **FlamMabel** :-)

* * *

**Chapter 27:**

Steve only vaguely remembered the last few times when he had been awake briefly, when every breath had been a struggle, every heartbeat had thundered mercilessly against his ribcage and the annoying beeping of a heart monitor had been a constant background noise in his fuzzy consciousness.

He hadn't really been aware of the hectic action around him, of all the doctors and nurses in the ICU who had desperately tried to stabilize his fluctuating heart rate or of his teammates who had been constantly keeping vigil by his bedside during the last two days and nights. The only thing he had really perceived was the painful pressure in his chest and the terrifying feeling that every struggling heartbeat might be his last.

This time his awakening was a little bit less uncomfortable, the beeping was gone, the room he was in was calm and quiet. Steve still felt like at least three identical copies of Kamekona were sitting on his chest and every muscle in his body hurt like hell with every thudding heartbeat, but at least his heart **was** beating and therefore he was more than graceful and happy.

"Ah, looks like that stupid partner of mine is finally ready to wake up."

Weakly rolling his head toward the familiar voice, Steve swallowed laboriously, his eyelids only slightly fluttering as he tried to open his eyes.

"Come on, you moron, you slept long enough, time to show me your infamous SEAL death glare."

Summoning all of his strength Steve finally managed to force his eyes open. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, his gaze fell on his partner who literally beamed down at him.

"Will you… finally… shut up… Danny," Steve groaned hoarsely, glaring tentatively at the other man.

"Nice try, McGarrett, but I'm sure you can do much better."

The smirk on Danny's lips stayed for another moment as he held Steve's gaze. Then suddenly the smile dropped from his face and he breathed out a long, tired sigh as he cautiously lowered himself onto the chair next to Steve's bed.

"Man, you really scared us," Williams said quietly, awkwardly rubbing his hands across his face. "Don't do that ever again, okay?"

Furrowing his brow, Steve breathed deeply in and out a few times until the pressure on his chest finally abated noticeably. At the moment he had only a vague idea of what had happened, but noticing the clavicle strap around Danny's shoulders and the way his partner carefully massaged his left thigh, his memories returned sluggishly.

"You alright?" Steve asked worriedly, the image of Danny's blood on the white tiles of their prison cell flashing through his mind.

Waving him off with a short flick of his wrist, Danny said with a little smile, "I think I told you before… I'm a Williams and we don't get put down and out by a simple gunshot wound."

"If I remember correctly, that was much more than a simple gunshot wound," Steve replied, his voice now a lot stronger than before. Looking around he found the device to adjust the bed, and by pressing the button he brought himself into a sitting position. A faint wave of dizziness rolled over him but after a few deep breaths it vanished as quickly as it had come. "Honestly Danny, are you alright?"

Rolling his eyes, Danny stared at his friend for a moment before he answered solemnly, "Yes Steven, I'm alright." Shrugging his shoulders as far as the clavicle strap allowed, he added, "I need to wear this stupid thing for at least four weeks to give my fractured collarbone time to heal, and I can tell you that I already hate it after barely one day." Gesturing to his left side he pointed at the cane that was leaning against his chair, "And my old cane is back in use because I can tell you that walking with a gunshot wound in one's thigh is quite painful."

Interrupting himself briefly, a wry smile crept across his lips, "But my daughter thinks the cane is cool so I have no problem using it."

"But you know what the best thing is, Steven?" McGarrett narrowed his eyes when he heard the glee in Danny's voice. "The best thing is that I was released this morning while you, my almost invincible friend, have to stay at least two more days."

Closing his eyes in distaste, Steve let his head drop back onto his pillow as he suppressed an irritated groan. "Two more days?" he asked gloomily. "You can't be serious." Involuntarily rubbing his hand across the left side of his chest, he remembered the pain he had been in, and he had to admit that maybe two days in a hospital bed were a low price to pay for his life.

"What happened anyway?" he wanted to know as he ran his right hand through his hair. All he remembered was that raw pain in his chest and the inability to draw a proper breath.

"You mean other than that your fear of needles resulted in giving yourself a heart attack?" Danny joked but there was an underlying hint of seriousness in his voice.

"Very funny," Steve huffed out, glaring at his partner.

"Now, that's better," Williams beamed at the sight of Steve's face. "You're almost back to your distinctive death glare."

"Danny, please, can't you be serious and simply answer my question?" McGarrett begged tiredly. "Just for once?"

"No, Steven, I can't be serious," Danny retorted testily, heaving a deep sigh before he continued. "And why would I be serious? It's not as if my partner almost got killed after he injected himself with an unknown drug. Oh wait, if I think about it, that's exactly what happened." He waved his hands through the air and stared at his friend for a long time. "I mean it, Steve," Danny finally said quietly, "you really, really scared us this time."

Noticing the blank look on Steve's face, Danny sighed again and explained patiently, "Baines' drug played havoc with your system, especially with your heart and on the way to the hospital you decided to check out on us…"

Danny let his voice trail off and after noisily clearing his throat, he said hoarsely and with another large gesture of his hands, "Anyway, you're fine now. Doc said, the drug is almost completely out of your system, you're young and healthy, you're supposed to make a full recovery, yadda yadda yadda. They don't expect a relapse but they just want to monitor you for another 48 hours to make sure."

Without giving Steve the time to interrupt, Danny immediately continued to rant, "And beside all that, you really deserve a good lecture for the fright you gave us. I mean, what the hell were you thinking, Steven? Which part of 'Don't do anything stupid and, under no circumstances, ever use that syringe on yourself' did you not understand?"

Locking eyes with his partner, Danny sagged back in his chair as he sighed once more and whispered quietly, "The drug could have killed you, you jerk."

Returning Danny's look, Steve nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know," he admitted hesitantly. "But you know that I had no other choice. Baines would have killed you, Danny." A shudder ran down Steve's spine when he remembered the look in Baines' gray eyes and the weapon he'd pointed at Danny's head.

"I do know that, babe, but that still doesn't mean I like what you did," Williams replied. Leaning on his cane he laboriously dragged himself to his feet and stepped closer to Steve's bed. "But I'm extremely glad that we're both alive," he said solemnly, raising his right hand to exchange high-fives with his partner.

"Me too," McGarrett replied after a brief moment, also stretching out his hand. But instead of returning the high five he grabbed Danny's hand and squeezed tightly. "Me too, Danno."

Grinning at each other the two partners remained silent for a minute until Danny finally released his grip and cleared his throat once more, a bit embarrassed about that unusual display of feelings.

Leaning a little bit forward, he swiftly pressed the call button next to Steve's bed before he dropped back down in his chair. "Doc said he wants to check on you as soon as you're awake," Danny explained, cocking his head a little bit to the right when he noticed Steve's inquiring gaze.

Studying his partner for a moment, a sly smirk slowly crept across Danny's lips. "And now that your heroic actions have proved that you've overcome your fear of needles, you certainly don't mind the nurse drawing a little bit more of your blood," he smirked, laughing out loud at the horrified expression on his partner's face.

* * *

Two days later the ghost of a pressure on Steve's chest was almost the only reminder of his recent near death experience and he was finally released with strict orders not to overdo it in the next few days.

Waiting in front of the hospital for his partner to pick him up, he gave the crutch in his left hand an irritated look, considering seriously throwing the hated thing into the bushes behind him. But the pain that flared through his thigh when he tentatively put some weight on his left leg immediately made him forget that thought.

Shaking his head in disgust, Steve puffed out a long, frustrated sigh. He still couldn't believe that he suffered from a very rare side effect the injection with the EpiPen had caused. First the injection site had become inflamed and soon after that a huge abscess had developed, so that a quick little surgery had even been necessary to remove the affected tissue. His whole leg felt if it was on fire and walking without the crutch was almost impossible. According to the doctors it wasn't a case for concern now that the wound had been cleaned but the muscle needed time to heal and until then Steve was dependent on the crutch, whether he wanted to be or not.

Leaning heavily against a metallic railing, Steve threw an impatient look at his watch and then along the street. When there was still no sign of Danny's silver Camaro he shook his head, thinking back to the conversations with Kono and Chin, what they had told him and Danny about all the events that had finally led to their rescue.

x~x~x

"_Duke, what's wrong? What's happened?"_

_As soon as Kono had asked those questions a few days before on a chilly night on Molokai and had heard Sergeant Duke Lukela's answer, she was from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye._

_Kono forcefully shoved her cell phone into the right back pocket of her jeans and breathed out a deep, shaky sigh. She couldn't believe that Steve, Danny and Gabby were missing, kidnapped from Gabby's apartment while a black-and-white had been parked directly in front of the building._

_Not hesitating a second longer, Kono whirled around and leaped into action._

_Only thirty minutes later she had talked to the other teachers of the youth camp, organized a flight back to Oahu, had woken Grace and had tried to tell her about what's going on without frightening the little girl too much._

_As soon as Kono and Grace arrived in Honolulu and Danny's daughter was asleep safe and sound on the couch in McGarrett's office, Kono started to look through all the case relevant files. Somewhere amongst all that information there must be a hint about what had happened to her two teammates._

_It was almost eight hours and four cups of disgusting coffee later – just when she was about to scream in frustration – when Kono finally found what she was looking for._

"_That's it!" Kono gasped out wide-eyed, then she involuntarily hold her breath as she skimmed through the information on the screen._

_The search for Baines' silver Volkswagen had led HPD to an expensive quarter near Diamond Head where the car had repeatedly been seen over the last few days. Neatly checking all people and buildings in that very area, Kono had finally stumbled onto one special house._

_Staring at the display, Kono blinked slowly, over and over reading the owner's name of said mansion – Mrs. Eliza Kalili, who happened to be Paul Baines' deceased foster mother._

_Shaking her head, Kono wondered why that connection had never raised suspicion before, but she quickly discarded that thought. The only important thing was that she had found the connection and the longer she looked at the name on the screen the more she was sure that this was the missing piece of information she had been looking for. That very house must be Paul Baines' secret hideout._

_The next few minutes passed in a blurry rush, calling Sergeant Lukela, organizing a SWAT team and preparing her own equipment and took Kono's full concentration. There was only one other problem to solve but before she could even think of what to do with Grace who still slept peacefully in the next room, Kono startled in surprise when the big glass doors to the Five-0 headquarters burst open and her cousin limped into the office._

x~x~x

Heaving an impatient sigh, Steve shifted his weight a little bit, grimacing with pain when he involuntarily put too much pressure on his left leg. He let his gaze travel left and right along the street but there was still no sign of his partner. Steve's right hand automatically moved toward his pocket to pull out his cell phone but he stopped in mid-movement when he remembered that his phone was gone and he was still waiting for a new one to be delivered.

When Paul Baines had disappeared from the crime scene – however he had managed to get away without leaving a single hint of where he had gone was still beyond everyone's grasp – he had taken not only Steve's and Danny's cell phones but also their weapons and badges. All that HPD had found in the empty house where two dead bodies of what had apparently been Baines' accomplices and a fully equipped laboratory with hundreds and hundreds of small vials, all filled with different clear, colorless liquids.

Charlie Fong immediately had started to examine the contents of the bottles and even if he was unable to tell what exactly the purpose of all the different drugs were, he'd found one special substance in all of the samples – the very same synthetic carrier he'd already extracted from seven blood samples over the last few days.

Or eight, if you count the one that had been flown in from Canada the day before, the blood sample from a young snowboarder who had been found dead in his hotel room after an accident with two Hawaiian tourists…

x~x~x

"_Cuz," Kono exclaimed, surprised and relieved at the same time as she wrapped her arms around her cousin and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're back. Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine, but what happened to your leg?" Chin answered quietly, returning the hug before he gently made a step back and looked at the young woman._

"_Kind of a surf accident, I'll explain later," Kono waved him off, immediately returning the question when her gaze fell on the cast on Chin's right leg. "What about yours?"_

"_A crazy snowboarder tried to run Malia over," Chin replied equally clipped. Noticing Kono's Kevlar vest and the bunch of weapons he narrowed his eyes as he continued, "It's a long story and I don't think we have time for it right now." Pointing at all the equipment, he asked, "What's going on? Where are Steve and Danny?"_

"_Run over?" Kono gasped worriedly without answering Chin's questions. "Where is Malia? Is she alright?"_

"_Yeah, she's fine, I got there just in time to push her out of the way," Chin reassured her with a little nod towards his right ankle, looking up when he heard Kono breathing out a relieved sigh. "She's waiting downstairs in the car, I just wanted to say hello before we go home, especially after the five thousand missed calls I found on my cell phone." Throwing his cousin an inquiring look he earnestly repeated his former question, "Kono, what's going on here?"_

_Slipping on her vest, Kono gave Chin a wry smile. "Okay, cuz, your holiday is officially over right now," she said, locking eyes with the man in front of her, "Steve and Danny need our help."_

_Without waiting for Chin's answer she turned around and headed toward McGarrett's office. "Go, get your equipment, I'll explain everything when we are on the way," she said over her shoulder. "And I need Malia to take care of Grace and wait at HPD for our return."_

x~x~x

Closing his eyes, Steve turned his face towards the sun and leaned back against the railing. Battling down the emerging worry he decided to wait two more minutes before he'd go back inside the hospital and gave his partner a call. After all, Paul Baines was still on the run and having met the man and learned about his attitude toward Five-0, they now knew what he was capable of. It was crucial that they all were on guard always and everywhere.

After exactly one minute and twenty-three seconds McGarrett opened his eyes when he finally heard a car stop in front of him. Steve blinked in surprise when instead of Danny's silver Camaro his own dark blue Silverado showed up, Kono behind the wheel, Chin and Danny on the back seat.

"How long do you want to stand there and stare into oblivion, Captain Ahab… or is it Lieutenant Commander Ahab?" Danny smirked with a look at Steve's injured leg. "Come on, get in, we have an appointment with the Governor."

"You're late," Steve retorted grumpily, leaning heavily on his crutch while he limped toward the waiting car and opened the passenger's door.

"Yes, Steven, we're late," Danny said, turning a little bit to the left and reaching for something next to him on the back seat. "But I figured you probably would like to have your new phone as soon as possible, so we had to wait for Chin to configure it to your wishes." He waited until Steve had sat down then he tossed a shiny black device into McGarrett's lap and grinned smugly at the man next to him, "So, technically speaking, it's not our fault that we're late, but rather Chin's."

"Hey, play fair, brah," Chin said in faked hurt, pointing at his right leg. "Remember that I'm injured…"

"Oh, poor cuz," Kono tossed in, throwing a brief glance into the rear mirror to wink at her cousin before she looked over her left shoulder, pulled the car to the left, and stepped on the gas.

"Yeah, we're all injured, you know?" Williams said, unsuccessfully trying to relax in his seat when Kono rushed the car around a corner.

"But I'm the only one with a cast," Chin retorted, a proud little grin on his lips.

"And the only one without a crutch," Steve said grumpily, his remark supported by a jealous nod from Kono who also still was reliant on her own crutch.

"Hey, I don't have a crutch," Danny said smugly, slightly banging his cane first against McGarrett's shoulder then against Kono's. "A crutch is only for invalids like you two, I have a cool cane."

Steve and Kono looked at each other for the blink of an eye, then they both turned their heads and exclaimed in unison, "Shut up, Danny!"

* * *

"I don't believe it," Kono said dumbfounded as soon as they had left the Governor' office.

Standing in the anteroom, the four Five-0s silently stared at the closed door for almost a minute until Steve finally blinked sluggishly, stammering, "Did he… did he really…"

"Did he really giggle at us?" Danny finished Steve's sentence, stabbing his cane toward the door as he shifted his attention to his teammates.

"I think so, brah," Chin answered blankly, shaking his head about the Governor's unusual behavior. Sighing quietly, he let his gaze travel from his own injured leg to Steve's and Kono's crutches and finally to Danny's wooden cane and he couldn't prevent his lips from curling in slight amusement. "But who can blame him? I mean, look at us, at the moment we're not exactly showpiece members of his elite task force."

"It's still not nice to laugh at us," Kono said with a last sullen look at the closed door before she turned around and slowly limped toward the exit. But she had to admit that her cousin was right, the four of them probably looked more than funny with their various leg injuries. Remembering the Governor's contagious giggle – yes, that tree of a man really had been giggling like a little school girl – Kono wasn't able to hide her own grin any longer. Noticing that her teammates didn't follow she stopped in her pace, quickly sobering when she heard Danny's next words.

"No, it's not nice to laugh at us, especially not after knocking the stuffing out of us for letting Baines get away," he uttered with a deep sigh, grimacing slightly when he tried to run a hand over his hair despite the clavicle strap that was restraining his movements.

"But he was damn right about that," Steve replied, his voice laced with anger and frustration. His eyes darkened when he forcefully slammed his crutch onto the marble floor, "We did Baines let escape."

"There was nothing we could have done to prevent that lunatic bastard from getting away," Danny threw in matter-of-factly, pensively twirling the cane between his fingers. "But he must have left a hint, something that tells us where he went or what he has planned."

"And if he left only the tiniest bit of information, we will be able to find him," Kelly said quietly.

"And then we'll hunt him down," Kono nodded in agreement, a determined shimmer in her dark eyes.

Tightening his fist around the crutch, Steve also nodded hesitantly. "We will get him," he whispered hoarsely. "We will get him and he will pay for everything he did."

The four people solemnly stared at each other for a long moment, silently vowing to do everything in their power to find Paul Baines, until Chin finally made a small step back, breaking the tense atmosphere that had settled down onto them. "Come on, let's forget all that crap for the rest of the day," he said, briefly locking eyes with each of his teammates before he placed a light slap on Danny's shoulder. "There are three lovely ladies waiting for us," he added cheerfully, referring to the fact that Malia, Gabby and Grace were supposed to meet them downstairs.

A bright smile crept across Danny's lips at the thought of meeting his daughter and his girlfriend and together with Chin, whose face wore an equally dopey expression, he led the way toward the exit. Steve and Kono followed slowly, heavily leaning on their crutches, the former dark thoughts quickly pushed away by the happiness that radiated from the two men in front of them.

Limping toward the stairs – because none of the four friends would actually admit that taking the elevator would be much easier – they laboriously made their way downstairs and as expected they were greeted by Malia, Grace and Gabby, who had laid both of their hands on the little girl's shoulders in front of them.

However, what they had not expected was the fact that Malia's and Gabby's lips were twitching in amusement while Grace unsuccessfully tried to stifle her laughter by pressing both hands against her mouth.

"Oh no, not you too," Danny groaned in annoyance, "isn't it enough that the Governor has already laughed at us?"

"But you really look funny, Danno," Grace giggled happily and within the blink of an eye Danny's mood lit up. He just couldn't help it, but seeing his daughter smiling and laughing always made him happy too. Looking up, he locked eyes with Gabby and they both smiled tenderly at each other.

"Grace is right," Malia said laughingly as she stepped closer to Chin. "You really look a bit funny, all of you."

"Well, thank you, Malia," Chin replied dryly. "I thought at least you as my wife would have the decency to not make fun of us. After all, I sacrificed my own health to save you." He actually pouted a little bit but soon a smile found its way back on his face, because Chin would do anything and everything for the love of his life.

Coming to a halt directly in front of her husband, Malia looked at him for a long moment. "You're my hero," she whispered with an affectionate smile, gently caressing Chin's cheek before she placed a quick kiss on his lips.

After a few moments of silence, Kono finally noisily cleared her throat when none of them moved. Slightly tapping her own crutch against Steve's she nodded toward the two happy couples in front of them. "Hey boss, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," she said conspiratorially. "Why don't we go ahead and occupy the best seats?"

"Good idea, Kono, they're obviously not hungry at all," Steve answered with a bright smirk, already turning around and heading toward the exit. "Come on, I have a table reserved at Kam Fung. It's one of the best Chinese restaurants in Honolulu."

"Hey, wait, you Neanderthal," Danny exclaimed, gently pushing Gabby and Grace in front of him as he rushed after Steve as fast as possible. "Who said we were not hungry? I'm starving."

"That's nothing new," McGarrett replied grinning, slowing down to wait for his partner. "You're always hungry, Danno, aren't you?"

"I'm always hungry?" Danny repeated, deliberately ignoring the smiles on the faces of the people around him who quite rightly expected one of Danny's famous rants to come up. "No, Steven, I'm not always hungry and do you want to know why? I'm not always hungry because your passion for explosives, gunfights, car chases and other mortal stuff spoils my appetite, thank you very much." Stopping in front of Steve he leaned on his cane, waving his free hand through the air in a large circle as he glared at his partner. "But right now, I hope you can keep your usual craziness at bay for at least a few hours because I'm accompanied by the two loveliest ladies on earth," he said, the scowl on his face quickly transforming into a happy smile when he looked at Grace and Gabby. "And now, let's go, before your reservations expire," he added, forcefully nudging Steve with his cane. "As I said before, I'm starving, Steven."

"Hey, stop it, that hurts," Steve said, slapping the cane away with his own crutch. Turning his head toward Kono and Chin who only grinned brightly and shook their heads about the behavior of their teammates, he exclaimed whiningly, "Did you see that? That's police brutality…"

Ranting and laughing they all headed out, enjoying each other's company and just being happy about the fact that everyone was alive. They would spend a few peaceful hours of joy and happiness with lots of laughter and delicious food, banishing Paul Baines from their thoughts for a while, before Five-0 started their hunt for the man with all their might on the next day.

* * *

**Epilogue:**

It was a nice sunny afternoon and the tables in front of the small café were crowded with people, courting couples who sat hand in hand, happy families with children who laughed and screamed with joy, and here and there a lone businessman with a newspaper or a laptop in front of him.

The middle aged man who sat alone at one of the tables in the very front row blended perfectly in the crowd without attracting any negative attention. He sat perfectly still, his gaze fixed to the Chinese restaurant at the other side of the street, only grimacing every now and then when one of the children at the tables around him let out an especially earsplitting shriek.

He was sitting there for a good twenty minutes but so far none of the waitresses had shown up to take his order. The man shifted a little bit in his chair but otherwise still didn't move. He didn't mind waiting, patience had always been one of his strongest suits and after a few more minutes he already was rewarded.

Leaning forward in his chair, his eyes began to sparkle as he watched curiously how the entrance door of the restaurant opened and a small group of people strolled out onto the sidewalk. The three men, three women and one child seemed to be in very good spirits, and despite the fact that four of them were obviously hurt and limping heavily, they all chattered animatedly, laughing heartily about something the little girl had just said.

"What do you want?" a female voice broke the man's musings and he looked up, cocking his head a little bit to the right.

Flashing the young waitress a polite smile he replied gently, "Coffee, please."

Smiling back she turned around and headed off to get what he asked for. For the length of a heartbeat the man looked after her before his gray eyes grew cold and he shifted his attention back to the group of people on the other side of the street.

"And revenge," Paul Baines whispered coldly, pensively clicking his tongue as his devious mind already started to plot his next steps.

**THE END**

* * *

**Author's Note:**  
When I started to write this story I certainly didn't had in mind to let Baines get away (again!) but the longer I worked on the story the meaner and cleverer he became and suddenly it didn't felt right that he would be that easy to catch. But I'm sure next time their paths cross Five-0 will cook Baines' goose!


End file.
